More than 26,000 new trees will be planted by the NSW Government along the Great West Walk, a 65-kilometre urban trail linking Parramatta to the lower Blue Mountains through three Western Sydney council areas.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes was joined by representatives from Penrith, Parramatta and Blacktown City Councils at Ironbark Reserve in Cranebrook to plant the first tree under the Greening the Great West Walk initiative.
"One of Sydney's finest green links will now be adorned with more trees, our greatest weapon in the battle against the urban heat in Western Sydney," Mr Stokes said.
"We're creating a city within a park and we're doing that by linking our green spaces with living infrastructure like the Great West Walk.
"Penrith, Parramatta and Blacktown Councils have received close to $1 million for landscaping work which includes planting and maintaining around 11,000 trees in four locations along the Great West Walk, with more than 15,000 trees to be planted by our partners Greening Australia and Landcare."
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the walk traversed stunning landscapes and was an important link through the region.
"We know that sections of the Great West Walk have low tree canopy cover and can be 8-11 degrees warmer than other parts of Sydney, so this investment will go a long way to reducing the urban heat island effect," Mr Ayres said.
The investment will see 3,200 trees planted at Tregear Reserve in Tregear (Blacktown), 7,600 trees in Toongabbie Creek in Winston Hills (Parramatta), 100 trees at Ironbark Reserve in Cranebrook (Penrith) and 9,000 trees at multiple sites across the walk.
"We will be planting more than 100 trees in Ironbark Reserve, each representing a year of the great work carried out by Rotary, which is celebrating its centenary in 2021," Penrith City Council Mayor Karen McKeown said.
"More than 3,000 trees will be planted in Tregear Reserve, supporting the protected Cumberland Plain woodland, local river systems, public parklands, and some of Blacktown's most iconic urban landscapes," Mayor of Blacktown City Tony Bleasdale OAM said.
"Parramatta welcomes this funding, which will enable us to plant more than 7500 trees along Toongabbie Creek at Winston Hills and make the daily walk even more beautiful and enjoyable for hundreds of local residents and visitors," City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Cr Bob Dwyer said.
The Greening the Great West Walk initiative supports the Greening our City Premier's Priority, which aims to increase the tree canopy and green cover across Greater Sydney by planting one million trees by 2022. More than 500,000 trees have been planted so far.
