The Council will spend $2 million towards greening Brisbane suburbs through tree planting activities in Zillmere, Paddington, Greenslopes and Murarrie.
Cr Schrinner said that the Council’s 2019-20 Budget will allocate $2 million on tree planting projects for the next year in Zillmere, Paddington, Greenslopes and Murarrie “to improve the amenity of local shopping areas as well as beautifying busy traffic corridors through plantings in median strips.”
“Residents love Brisbane for its open green spaces and shady boulevards, and in the coming financial year we have allocated $22.8 million towards planting and maintaining trees across the suburbs, which is an increase of $4.4 million or about 25 per cent,” Cr Schrinner said.
The 2019-20 Budget also includes $107,000 boost towards jacaranda planting program at local parks in Bulimba, St Lucia, and New Farm.
“Like most people in Brisbane, I love our iconic jacarandas and one of my favourite times of the year is when they are flowering. Once these new jacarandas are planted and start to grow, jacaranda season will become even more colourful,” LM Schrinner said.
Council will also allocate $7.8 million on free green waste bins, delivered to more than 109,000 households, to further encourage Brisbane residents recycle their green waste.
Protecting Brisbane’s green space and koala habitat
LM Schrinner said that the Council is on track to deliver on its four-year plan to safeguard Brisbane’s important green space and koala habitat through the acquisition of 750 hectares of bushland by 2020 as part of the accelerated Bushland Acquisition Program.
“Continuing to protect Brisbane’s significant bushland is part of my ambition to ensure the Brisbane of tomorrow is better than the Brisbane of today,” the lord mayor added.
The Budget also allocates $386,000 to continue to fund a comprehensive koala research program, which outcomes will be shared with the Brisbane Koala Science Institute at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary as part of a wider effort to protect the koala population.