If you look to the beautiful Bridgewa­ter foreshore area you will see a row of young flowering gum trees have been planted along Ed­dington Street.

The Material Insti­tute, a part of MONA, has kindly contribut­ed $20,000 towards planting trees and has worked with Brighton Council to get the trees into the ground. The first selection of street trees were planted in June this year, with more to be planted in phases over the next year. They will run from the Botan­ical Institute to the Bridgewater Bridge end of Eddington Street.

A range of smaller dwarf size flowering gums were selected because of their tol­erance to pests and diseases, drought, and adaptability to the soils in the area. In line with Brighton Council’s Greening Strategy, Eddington Street is a key resi­dential area for street tree planting.

Kirsha Kaechele, Founder and Creative Director of Material Institute, said, “It is a pleasure to see street trees support com­munity connections to the natural envi­ronment, encourag­ing more children in nature-based play, and building a more climate-resilient environment.”

Mayor Leigh Gray highlighted, “We have had such pos­itive engagement from the community on the benefits of street trees and com­munity feedback on the Eddington Street project has been the same. Brighton Council is proactive about working with community groups and local businesses to support tree plant­ing projects.

They not only benefit the community, but have long lasting ef­fects for biodiversity and habitat corridor growth within the municipality.”

For further informa­tion, see the envi­ronment section of the Brighton Council website at www.brighton.tas.gov.au.