Wednesday, 4 August 2021

Urban vegetation

Ms CONNOLLY (Tarneit) (10:07): It has been nearly two months since our government announced $5 million in funding to plant half a million trees in Melbourne’s west, and my community has embraced this announcement with open arms. People in Tarneit know there is an appetite for revitalisation and greening our suburbs in the outer west, and they are the first ones to put up their hands to help make this possible. Over the past couple of weeks I have been inundated with emails and phone calls from volunteers looking to help plant these trees across Wyndham. Thank you to everyone who has contacted my office. On a personal note, it makes me feel very proud that so many people are so passionate and ready to roll up their sleeves, grab a shovel and help make our neighbourhoods cleaner, greener and cooler.

I want to take this opportunity to say to the rest of my community listening today that I would love to have you involved in planting our trees and giving the TLC many of our streets, parks and local streets need right across our community. I am hoping that we can come together, not just on one occasion but for many years into the future and that volunteers will make a deep and long-lasting connection with local Landcare and environmental groups, because I know for many of them people power will enable them to cover a lot more ground than they are at the moment. You can get involved by emailing my office directly. That way when opportunities come to plant trees, starting from the beginning of next month, you will be the first ones to know about where and when we are going to be planting them. So get your green thumbs ready, sign up and get involved, because we have got a lot of work to do, Tarneit.