26 Jan Harlow Council is set to invest £250,000 in planting and maintaining new trees across the town
Harlow Council is set to invest £250,000 in planting and maintaining new trees across the town over the next 3 years.
The announcement is part of the council’s budget proposals unveiled last week and follows a community tree planting event held on Sunday (23 January 2022) where a team of around 60 people planted 800 trees on the Helipad on Second Avenue. A further 50 trees were planted this morning on the site by council staff and 2 greenteam volunteers bringing the total number to 850 trees.
On Sunday residents, councillors and local beaver and scout groups planted trees together as the council closes in on its target of planting 2,000 trees before March 2022.
A further community tree planting event is to be held on Sunday 6 February on land near Passmores House where a further 600 trees will be planted.
The current tree planting programme is being funded the government’s Local Authority Treescape Fund and every tree planted will be supported by a three year maintenance programme.
Councillor Nicky Purse, cabinet portfolio holder for environment, who attended Sunday’s event, has welcomed the proposed further tree planting investment, she said: “Sunday was a brilliant day for our new improved programme of community tree planting. It was great to see families and people of all ages working together to improve the environment and combat the effects of climate change. It is such a special occasion for local families to be involved in and with our proposed £250,000 investment we will continue this programme into the future and spread it out to other areas in the town where it is suitable to plant trees. I would like to thank council staff for organising such a great day and give special thanks to the local scouts for their help.
“We are getting on with the job of improving the environment for future generations, building back greener and restoring pride in our local environment.”
The council is proposing to spend a total of £6.4m on improving landscaping and the environment. This includes funding services which maintain landscaping across the town, including existing trees, and carry out street cleaning. The investment also includes £250,000 to support further tree planting over the next 3 years.
