Under the leadership of Lord Mayor Clover Moore, Sydney's inner city has been getting greener, and will continue to do so with the new Greening Sydney Strategy. Over 15,000 trees were planted in the past 15 years and over 800,000 plants since 2009. Canopy cover has increased by 23 per cent, and parks and green spaces have expanded by 13 per cent in the past decade. Native bushland has increased by 180 per cent and 23 community and verge gardens have been established across the city. This is a fantastic achievement and vital to build resilience against climate change and protect residents’ health and wellbeing.

The City of Sydney draft Greening Sydney strategy aims to protect the city from the ‘heat-island’ effect as average and maximum temperatures are set to increase, and heatwaves are set to be longer, hotter and more frequent. I encourage you to give feedback before 24 May: > HERE.

In Parliament I called on the NSW government to dedicate unused land on William Street for new green space managed by the City of Sydney and to transfer the vacant Paddington Bowling Club to Woollahra Council as community recreation space: > HERE.