IN the lead up to the Samson Tree & Wildlife Festival, Freo mayor Ben Lawver is calling for the council’s tree canopy protection to be extended across the entire city and have incentives to join the significant tree register.
Currently the tree retention policy, which is up for review this year, doesn’t cover some high density residential areas. Lawver wants to see that changed.
“I think that would be the most practical thing that we could do right now to protect the canopy that we have,” he says.
“It doesn’t mean development can’t happen on that site, it just means that if you can’t build around the trees for whatever reason, for every one that gets removed you have to plant two more.
“So it’s pretty straightforward and it stops people from buying a block and just clearing it without thinking about it.”
• (above) Freo mayor Ben Lawver with the Garden, Verges and Trees committee, and (below) Samson Park.
Lawver says not many homeowners have added trees to the significant tree register, which also offers protection, and he wants to consider monetary incentives like rebates.
“It’s more to acknowledge that having significant trees, sometimes there is a cost to the homeowner,” he says.
“If they’re willing to take that step and put them on the list, and really protect them, then maybe we can help with that a little bit.”
Lawver is no stranger to compost and gardening gloves.
During covid and a year out from work, he joined Friends of Samson Park, getting down and dirty with fellow volunteers for weeding, planting and watering.
Stunning
So he’s excited about the upcoming Samson Tree & Wildlife Festival at Sir Frederick Samson Memorial Park on April 11.
“It’s an absolutely stunning place,” he says.
“We just approved a master plan for the Park and got funding pretty much every year, for the next three or four years, to really make the place look fabulous and be very welcoming for people.”
A collaboration between Fremantle and East Freo Councils, the free community Festival includes a Welcome to Country and cultural walk with Trevor Walley, wildlife presentations from Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre, children’s storytelling and drawing with local author-illustrator James Foley, hands-on environmental workshops, and the intriguing sounding “forest bathing experiences”, so pack your Speedos.
There’s also live music and the obligatory sausage sizzle.
As part of the Park upgrades, council will tackle the flooding that occurs in winter because of poor drainage.
“We’ve got to do some serious engineering to take care of that issue and that’s what Josh Wilson’s [Labor Fremantle MP] federal grants are going to help us do,” Lawver says.
The event will also mark the launch of the WA Tree Festival (April 11- May 10) with various events held by councils across the state.
Since launching in 2022, the Festival has encouraged communities to come together to celebrate the value of trees in urban areas and support the growth and protection of urban forests.
If that wasn’t enough tree-hugging goodness, there’s also the first ever ReWild Fest at the rejuvenated Fremantle Piazza on April 11.
They’ll be stalls, exhibits, public talks and free workshops.
For more info on the Samson Tree & Wildlife Festival see fremantle.wa.gov.au.
by STEPHEN POLLOCK