Street trees planned for CBD placed back on the agenda as councillors call for report on Grey Street East

A report will be prepared for Albany councillors by the end of the year outlining a timeline for planting trees on Grey Street East as well as the reasoning for possible alternate actions. It comes after Cr Chris Thomson tabled a motion calling for council to be updated on plans for eight street trees to be planted as part of a concept plan to return the street to two-way traffic flow, which had been endorsed by council in February 2019. Council voted 10-2 in favour of the motion to be updated before December on how plans for trees in the area had progressed. The officer comment attached to Cr Thomson’s motion stated planting street trees on Grey St East is “considered an important component of the CBD streetscape”. It states during construction of the streets road and pathway several clashes with services in the proposed tree locations were identified which would lead to potential damage. “The planting of street trees in the CBD necessitates additional infrastructure such as planters or kerbs that are often not necessary in a suburban environment,” the officer comment states. “Unless additional budget is granted to the specific project, at Council’s request, those on Grey St East could however be prioritised over other projects.” Speaking for his motion, Cr Thomson said he gathered there had been some operational issues planting the trees where they were first planned. “I want to see some street trees down there, ideally as planned,” he said. “The second point of this motion is asking if we can’t plant them there, then can we have some advice on an alternative course of action so we can close the loop.” Cr Stephen Grimmer said his reason for seconding the motion was quite simple because it would be “much nicer and better for community members if (Grey Street East) had trees”. “We should look at where those trees are best placed and what are the best trees, but I would certainly like to see more trees in town,” he said. Cr Sandie Smith and Cr Robert Sutton voted against the motion and suggested it could have been a matter addressed without coming to council. “The rationale for that motion in 2019 was purely about making Grey Street East two ways to traffic again because for some years it had been one-way traffic,” Cr Smith said. “As part of that rationale presented to council was the concept plan of how that would look with two-ways in front of the Premier Hotel. “The fact that that concept plan had some street trees drawn in was not part of the plan for that area.”