Urban Forest Strategy June 2014 Vision The vision of the City of Armadale Urban Forest Strategy is to strengthen a diverse landscape character through allocating suitable tree diversity, to be proactive in appropriate landscape planning while showcasing the city’s botanic heritage and to distinguish an expanding ‘tree change’ destination from the existing Perth vernacular. Cover Image - View from the Hills of Perth skyline & Tuart Tree Above: Angophora costata - Street Tree Source: Flickr - Simon Cherriman, UDLA Source: Flickr - les.butcher 2 Contents Executive Summary 5 PART C - PRECINCT APPLICATION 88 Introduction 15 C1 Swan Coastal Plain Precinct 93 C2 Armadale Strategic Metropolitan Centre 105 PART A – BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 18 C3 Kelmscott Town Centre 115 A.1 Background 21 C4 The Hills Precinct 125 A2 Definitions 22 A3 Context Mapping 30 Part D – TOWARDS IMPLEMENTATION 136 D1 Towards Implementation 139 PART B – METHODOLOGY 48 D2 Recommendations 140 B1 Vision and Aims 52 B2 CoA Precincts Analysis & Objectives 53 Conclusion 143 B2.1 The Swan Coastal Plain 54 Appreciation 144 B2.2 The Armadale Strategic Metropolitan Centre 56 References 145 B2.3 The Kelmscott Town Centre 58 B2.4 The Hills 60 Appendix A: Costing Estimates and Staging 146 Appendix B: City of Armadale Urban Forest Strategy Engagement B3 Liveable Neighbourhoods & Street Typologies 64 Presentation B3.1 Primary Distributors 66 B3.2 Integrator Arterials 68 B3.3 Neighbourhood Connectors 70 B3.4 Access Streets 72 B4 ‘Firewise’ Urban Forest Planning 74 B5 Tree Selection Guide 78 B6 Plant Schedule 82 Urban Forest Strategy - June 2014 3 City of Armadale Council Offices and surrounding established trees Source: Google Earth 4 Executive Summary An urban forest considers the cumulative Particularly in the last 10-20 years there The Urban Forest Strategy recognises that benefits of an entire tree population. has been a sharp increase in green field trees are to be part of urban planning Examining holistically a town or cities urban development within Perth’s Swan Coastal upfront considerations. Planning for trees forest and its associated ecosystem allows Plain. The CoA is rapidly expanding due to is not a density issue it is an upfront design for consideration of the broader issues of being situated on the central eastern fringe issue. It is evident that contemporary climate change, urban heat island effects, of this growth corridor. The social, economic planning has left tree planning / design as fire management, population growth and and environmental pressures on ‘lower cost’ an unconsidered back end constraint and planning policy that can in turn influence a or ‘affordable housing’ has slightly increased more often trees, if used, are now located community’s future green infrastructure. urban infill and most notably green field in left over voids. These left over spaces are development, especially within the CoA’s frequently not adequate to provide for tree The City of Armadale (CoA) Urban Forest urban fringes. Green field development structure or future health needs, let alone Strategy is to be prepared, implemented and within the CoA is occurring most notably add to the local or overall urban forest managed by a collaborative process with on two fronts, the hills precinct and to a amenity. shared input and responsibility from City greater extent within the Swan Coastal Plain “Liveable Neighbourhoods” planning policy stakeholders, community, cultural and city extending out from the CoA’s commercial guides urban development in Western interest groups. centres, Kelmscott and Armadale. The need Australia describes a hierarchy of street for ‘density’ and ‘low-cost housing’ provides typologies based upon composition In the CoA Community Perspectives 2012 a pressure that is transforming this once and scale. In this strategy “Liveable Survey; rural fringe or peri-urban environment into a Neighbourhoods” has been used to tightly packed residential enclave. influence tree planting from a planning level, …56% of participants felt the close ensuring tree planting strategy is directed to nature, country feel and natural WA’s ensuing urban outcome is seemingly towards outcomes appropriate for the main environment was one the best aspects void of specific planning for retaining, street types. By aligning with the ‘Liveable about living in the City of Armadale. contributing or managing an urban forest. Neighbourhoods’ planning guideline the The trend towards large detached residential intention is to improve the ease of the The holistic benefits of a healthy urban housing that has a high percentage lot strategies application and increase its forest are recently understood in relation footprint has developed an urban fabric that relevance at structure planning level, as well to providing more than aesthetic and is particularly unique to WA and has been as, ensuring practical useability for long term recreational values and include interrelated described as a sea of roofs, void of trees. planning and daily operations. social, economic and environmental benefits. An urban forest is now understood as critical urban green infrastructure and is to be managed for health and wellbeing of community. Urban Forest Strategy - June 2014 5 A recently held Tree Forum that focused on furthermore limiting the opportunity to the detriment of Perth’s decreasing urban develop a future urban forest asset. This forest discussed that WA’s reduction in the decrease of the urban forest, sometimes urban forest, especially within the private in the name of fulfilling planned density realm can be attributed to a number of targets and the pressure it places on factors. Peter Ciemitis (Senior Urban Planner) Armadale’s existing urban forest is presently posited that; typical to most Australian outer green field growth areas. Can both density targets and …‘Perth’s urban tree loss has been a death urban forest still coexist? Past examples of by a thousand cuts. In the Perth Coastal inner urban development has illustrated a Plain context, retention and planting of smaller housing footprint style (detached urban trees require a shift in thinking townhouse) that can provide density and on many levels. Convincing the public to sufficient backyard for the development of retain and plant more trees may require an urban tree canopy. It begs the question managing actual and perceived risks. does the building industry require pressure Educating citizens on the multitude of to deliver low cost two storey detached economic, social and environmental townhouse style development and equally benefits and providing planning policy planning mandate a plot ratio where directed at allowing suitable places setbacks, especially within the backyard is within the private (backyard) and public adequate for tree planting. spaces appropriate for tree retention, supplementation and urban forest Effective urban forest strategies are required regeneration’. (Peter Ciemitis - Urban to be specific and unique to location. The Planner Perth Tree Forum March 2014) CoA is diverse in landscape character and should equally be diverse in its urban A City’s urban forest requires adequate forest strategy; this includes planning, planning, implementation and management, implementation and management. High especially as contemporary single storey on the local citizen agenda is the provision detached large foot print style housing has of a healthy urban forest, however equally become the trend of WA’s urban infill and as high is the appropriate management of Jull Street Mall, Armadale green field development. This contemporary trees with regard to bushfire safety. Bushfire Source: Flickr - Rainy Winter Day In Jull Street style of outer suburban Australian housing management is most relevant within CoA’s is decreasing existing tree canopy and historically considered bush-fire prone areas 6 including the Armadale Hills and urban In 1994 the Federal Governments The CoA Urban Forest Strategy is not a fringes, where residents are living within and Department of Environment provided Bushfire Management Plan and recommends adjacent unmodified bushland. a discussion and associated papers on a City wide plan be prepared to address Biodiversity and the effects and effectiveness historically considered bushfire-prone areas. Management of bushfires within bushland of fire management. Jon Boura’s paper The Urban Forest Strategy does consider areas is perplexing as bushland conservation discussed the contrasting priorities between ‘firewise’ landscape planning including and bushland fire management will often conservationists and bushfire managers recognising WA’s latest state bushfire yield contrasting outcomes to the perceived noting that a shared responsibility or a guidelines recommending appropriate existing natural state. Simply stated, by virtue collaborative approach to community fire planting within building protection zones of human habitation the urban ecology is management is required to include all parties (BPZ’s) and hazard separation zones (HSZ’s). modified. Either bushfire is accepted as part (similar to the outcomes of the M.J. Keelty of the risk or considerable modification or June 2011 royal commission report ‘A Shared management to the bushland environment Responsibility’), as follows; is required to occur. To further concentrate this issue within the Armadale Hills, recent Often bushfire managers and urban infill has provided housing lots at conservationists have different priorities close to suburban density and most housing in land management;