Thurrock Council has been busy planting trees to boost wildlife and enhance the appearance of streets.
During the first round of plantings, which took place in spring, 32 trees were planted to replace those lost due to environmental factors in Grays at:
Connaught Avenue
Lenthall Avenue
Lenmore Avenue
Ward Avenue
Blackshots Lane
the edges of Blackshots Recreation Ground.
A further 34 trees will be planted throughout the borough in the autumn.
A variety of resilient species have been planted so far, such as limes, robina, tree privet, Ostrya, Taxodium, Paulownia and Norway maple. Owing to their location, these were chosen for their tolerance to drought, pests and disease.
The new plantings are the result of the council's inaugural tree planting strategy, which has introduced policies including like-for-like tree replacement and replacing trees in the same location, if possible. This strategy will ensure that trees removed in the past 3 years are replaced during 2019/20 – equating to 66 new trees. The council will then replace one-for-one every tree that is removed from 2021, which represents approximately 21 trees each year.
Aaron Watkins, portfolio holder for environment, said: "Trees provide an amazing range of health, economic and environmental benefits for our community in Thurrock.
"As well as offering diverse habitats for the variety of wildlife that we see in the borough, they contribute to our mental health, well-being and air quality, and make our streets and public spaces more attractive.
"Our new tree planting strategy is ambitious and alongside our aims, we will be encouraging developers to plant new trees.
"These trees will provide a healthy, beautiful environment for generations to come."
For more information, go to thurrock.gov.uk/trees
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