Street Tree Planting program cooling the Coast

Street Tree Planting program 

We run an ongoing street tree planting program each year, with resources allocated to plant around 60–70 trees annually. More greenery brings shade, cools down suburbs, and makes our communities better places to live and work.

While Council does offer trees, each request is assessed against our planting specifications and the Greener Places Strategy to ensure suitability.  This ensures trees planted would be best positioned to have a long-life span, ability to reduce urban heat islands (eg increased leaf canopy), would not be an impact to existing services or infrastructure or be an impact to planned future works, and consider other environmental and community needs.  This means not all requests can be approved.

Additional Pilot Program for 2025
As a one-off this financial year, Council approved an extra $150,000 for a street tree pilot program focused on the Peninsula suburbs only.

• FAQ – why the Peninsula? The Peninsula suburbs are a priority for tree planting under the Central Coast Greener Places Strategy because they have some of the lowest canopy cover and highest urban heat island impacts in the region. Increasing tree canopy will provide critical shade, reduce heat stress, improve air quality, and enhance biodiversity, while supporting Council’s liveability and sustainability goals. These actions respond to strong community feedback and align with the Everyone Can Play guidelines, ensuring safer, greener, and more inclusive public spaces for residents.

Future opportunities
Looking ahead, Council officers are preparing an application under the Greening Our City Grant. If successful, this will allow us to resource more planting opportunities across the Central Coast in future years.

🌱 Want to request a tree?
Contact Council online via our website or call us to lodge your request. We’ll review it against our guidelines and let you know if it’s viable.

Together, we’re working towards a greener, cooler Central Coast!

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