More than 25,000 free trees will be given to households across Greater Sydney and another 20,000 trees planted by councils as part of a program to make our cities, towns and suburbs greener and more beautiful places to live.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes has launched a partnership with Bunnings at its Narellan store to give away 26,500 free trees to Greater Sydney households.
“Our Free Tree Giveaway with Bunnings is open to all 33 local government areas across Greater Sydney, giving 10,500 eligible households a tree to plant in their yard,” Mr Stokes said.
“Trees make a huge difference to our lives; they improve air quality, create habitats for our beautiful wildlife and are the best way to manage the urban heat island effect which we know is a particular problem in Western Sydney.”
Member for Camden Peter Sidgreaves said that the free tree giveaway was a great opportunity for the community to get planting while the time is right.
“This is a great partnership where people can simply order w tree online and go and pick it up at their local Bunnings,” Mr Sidgreaves said.
“The varieties available will change every month, so keep an eye out for native trees, flowering trees and even some fruit trees.”
Mr Stokes also announced a $9.9 million in grants as part of the Greening our City program for 20,000 trees to be planted in 23 council areas.
“Greening our City is a wonderful program to increase our tree canopy. It was first launched in 2018 and has since delivered more than $15 million to local councils for planting 66,000 trees,” he said.
“We’re already more than halfway to meeting the Premier’s Priority to plant one million trees by 2022 and every tree planted from each of these programs gets us one step closer.”
Applications for a free tree can be made online and the local Bunnings store will be in contact when the trees are ready to be collected and planted. A variety of seasonal trees will be available between June and October.
For a list of eligible suburbs and participating Bunnings Warehouse stores for the Free Tree Giveaway visit: www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/free-tree
For a list of successful Greening our City applicants visit: www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/greeningourcitygrants