Australia’s second largest city has unveiled a $19.1 million plan to unleash a sea of green across the city by boosting urban forests and decorating buildings with ‘vertical greening.’ 

Government News has also learned City of Melbourne Council will next week reveal details of a ‘demonstration green roof’ as part of its 2019-20 budget.

The news comes just days after council approved plans to build a living ‘skyfarm’ in the city.

The centrepiece of the Green Our City Strategic Action Plan is a $4.2 million commitment to plant at least 3,400 trees in the next year and to help council care for more than 80,000 trees.

The plans will also see council increase the quality of green roofs and vertical greening across the municipality, where there are already 40 green roofs, according to council.

Budget documents describe plans to “progress a planning scheme amendment to improve sustainability performance and deliver green infrastructure on buildings.”

Parks and gardens across the city will get a makeover under the budget pledge, with council making a $19.1 million investment in projects to make the city more sustainable, including $7.1 million in upgrades across 480 hectares of parks and gardens.

The plans will see council spend $1.9 million to implement the first year the strategic plan.

Water management overhaul

A radical overhaul of council’s water management also features in the budget, with the city set to roll out a $4.2 million plan to collect and reuse rainwater in a bid to protect their iconic gardens from drought.

Acting Lord Mayor Arron Wood said the investment would help the city conserve water as temperatures continue to rise.

“This summer was Melbourne’s hottest on record so it’s important we conserve our water. That’s why we’re investing $4.2 million in our strategy to collect and re-use rainwater across the city. Our projects to renew drains and harvest stormwater will protect our iconic gardens from drought and extreme weather conditions.”

The budget pledge also includes sweeping measures to convert the city’s facilities to entirely renewable energy under the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project. 

The energy, which will come from a 80MW windfarm near Ararat, will power councils street lights, recreation centres, libraries and Town Halls.

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