Newsletter item – Launceston Chamber of Commerce, 12 May 2022

Launceston to Grow Greener

At last week’s City of Launceston Council meeting, it was wonderful to witness all councillors present vote in favour of endorsing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the City of Launceston and the Chamber to green our city. The MoU seeks to enhance Launceston’s central green spaces by increasing the number of street trees, plantings and arbour systems across the CBD and in our suburbs. The Council already plant 9000 trees a year across the city but the MoU provides a framework for the Chamber and the Council to build on this and accelerate the greening of our city.

Greening Launceston is a real passion project for the Chamber, particularly considering the triple bottom line benefits of city greening:

  • Environmental; greening a city dramatically reduces the temperature in city and suburban streets and will provide relief from heat and helps future-proof against the effects of climate change. It also provides habitat connectivity and sequesters carbon.
  • Social; trees and green spaces attract people and make for a more vibrant city. By greening central Launceston, we will see more social activity in our CBD.
  • Economic; a more vibrant and comfortable city will see a bigger economic spend in our small businesses. It will also improve Launceston’s competitive advantage in attracting and retaining talented people. Conversely, if we do not adapt then we will be out-competed by other cities that are engaging in ambitious greening programs.
Greening Launceston has also struck a chord with the community. Responses to The Examiner’s article on the endorsement of the MoU have been encouraging. In addition to this last year the Chamber submitted a Greening Launceston project to the 2022 Great Regional City Challenge. The project, which aims to build trust and interest in city greening and socialise the concept received an overwhelmingly positive response and at the end of community voting sat proudly towards the top of the pile.

Speaking of voting, the Chamber has been actively campaigning for a federal election commitment for City Heart Stage 2, which would not only make a fantastic starting point for city greening but would also see improvements to the CBD streets that connect our three primary assembly points (Brisbane Street Mall, Quadrant Mall and Civic Square) which would in turn offer new opportunities for Launceston’s night-time economy.  While a commitment to City Heart Stage 2 has yet to be received, we do encourage all candidates for Bass to give City Heart Stage 2 serious consideration in the closing days of their campaign.

We strongly believe the endorsement of the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Launceston and the Chamber is cause for celebration and we look forward to a much greener Launceston beginning with more of the right trees in the right locations across our city.