Tree planting program

A gardener wearing high-vis safety equipment planting a mature tree in a park.

For every tree removed to build North East Link, at least 2 will be planted – delivering one of the largest tree planting programs for a major transport project in Victoria.

More than 30,000 trees will be planted along North East Link as part of the project design and in local suburbs nearby.

As part of building North East Link, we’re creating more than 50 MCGs of open space including extensive indigenous planting and improving local roads and building new and upgraded walking and cycling paths. This includes:

5 MCGs of new community parklands and wetlands along a revitalised Banyule Creek at Borlase Reserve in Yallambie where land used for construction will be returned to the community
a new tree-lined boulevard for Greensborough Road with 700 trees and wider, shaded walking and cycling paths
new wetlands along the Yarra River and Koonung Creek in Bulleen and Balwyn North including a 1800m2 cultural landscape precinct
a 2 hectare Yarra Link green bridge over Bulleen Road in Bulleen
upgrades to Koonung Creek Reserve in Balwyn North.

Well before major construction begins, we’ve also planted more than 1500 trees at:

Local primary schools

Belle Vue Primary School, Balwyn North
Watsonia Primary School, Watsonia

Yarra River parklands

Montpelier Reserve, Lower Plenty
Westerfolds Park, Templestowe

Sports upgrades

Binnak Park, Watsonia North
Ford Park, Bellfield
Greensborough College, Greensborough

Simpson Barracks

Meares House Gardens, Yallambie

Local parks, reserves and nature strips with local councils

Boroondara Council

Hyde Park, Kew

Manningham Council

Katrina Gully Reserve, Doncaster
Morris Williams Reserve, Bulleen

Whitehorse Council

Heatherdale Creek Parklands, Mitcham
Memorial Park, Box Hill North
R.E. Gray Reserve, Nunawading
Slater Reserve, Blackburn North

Nillumbik

Brinawa Reserve, Greensborough
Booyan Crescent, Collendina Crescent, Corowa Crescent, Dwyer Place, Eastgate Drive, Evrah Place, Goolgung Grove, Kilarney Ridge, Plenty River Drive, Senbin Court and Tuta Court, Greensborough
Plenty River Drive Reserve, Greensborough
Pooh Park, Greensborough
Weemala Court Reserve, Greensborough

We’re working closely with Banyule, Boroondara, Manningham and Whitehorse Councils on the next places to plant trees early for North East Link.

Close to 800 responses to a community survey from people in 100 suburbs are helping inform our tree planting program. You can read a report on what we heard.

Find out more

Read the latest trees and vegetation fact sheet
Read the tree planting program fact sheet
Read the Studley Park Gum tree planting program fact sheet
Read the community survey report

FAQ

Around 16,000 trees, most along roadways, are expected to be removed to build North East Link as well as up to 52 hectares of native vegetation. A further 10,000 trees could also be impacted.

Keeping as many of these trees as we can is a major priority for the project and strict Environmental Performance Requirements (EPRs) are in place to do this.

Work to minimise the number of trees that need to be removed is happening now as part of detailed design work and construction planning.

Where tree removal cannot be avoided we’ll work closely with qualified ecologists and arborists to carefully plan and manage this.

A comprehensive assessment will be done to confirm the location and number of trees to be removed so they can be replaced through new planting, either in the same location or nearby.

More than 30,000 trees will be planted for the North East Link Program with at least 2 trees planted for every 1 removed.

But we’re not just counting how many trees go in the ground, we’re counting what they do. We’re working towards achieving a net gain in tree canopy cover by 2045.

Tree canopy is what you see when you look up, the cover from branches and leaves. Over time, trees planted for North East Link will grow to provide more of this cover than has been removed – helping to create a greener north and east.

As well as keeping as many trees as we can while we build North East Link, we’ll plant as many trees as possible as close as possible to where they have been removed. We’ll also plant trees to shade and cool local areas nearby.

Planting in places where trees have had to be removed for construction will start as soon as works in the area are finished or when the new trees can be protected.

Planting close to the project and in local suburbs nearby has already started and there will be opportunities to for the community to get involved later this year.

We’ve set these three planting priorities to help guide our work.

Tree planting priority 1

Along and near North East Link, as close as possible to where trees have been removed for construction. These trees will mostly help create green buffers between homes, noise walls and roads and to shade new or upgraded walking and cycling paths.

Tree planting priority 2

As close to construction areas as possible, ideally within 400m. These trees will help keep the benefits of new planting as close as possible to where trees have been removed. Trees planted near construction areas will mostly enhance existing parks, walking and cycling paths and community facilities.

Tree planting priority 3

Across the 6 council areas the project passes through – Banyule, Nillumbik, Manningham, Boroondara, Whitehorse and Yarra. These trees will help improve the look and feel of local areas and contribute to a healthier, better connected urban forest. We'll be guided by councils and local needs.

Because we’re working to achieve a net gain in tree canopy cover by 2045, it’s very important to us that trees planted for North East Link establish well, stay healthy and continue to grow.

We’ll be looking carefully at what’s needed to support trees and plants over the long-term including soil quality and requirements for ongoing maintenance.

Getting the planting conditions and maintenance right will vary from location to location. At Belle Vue Primary School, we installed an irrigation system to ensure the trees and plants get enough water. Other locations may need different approaches.

We've heard what the community has had to say about the River Red Gum on Bridge Street, Bulleen next to the Caltex Service Station site.

The project design for the Manningham Road interchange has been developed to avoid the tree. We’ll now keep making every effort to preserve the tree during construction.

We know this tree has great significance to the community and are also working to ensure we can grow new trees from its seeds if needed.

Yes. In late 2020 we asked people to help shape early tree planting in places and suburbs near North East Link. Close to 800 people from 100 suburbs took the survey. To find out more, read the tree planting program community survey report.

There will be opportunities for people to comment on tree planting as part of the project design when urban design and landscape plans are released.

We’re also working with local nurseries and social enterprises to plant the first trees for the North East Link Program – helping to support local businesses, jobs and communities.

To stay up to date, sign up to our e-newsletter.

As part of our early works program, we’re giving each tree in areas where North East Link works are taking place a unique ID number and recording information about its species and size. This helps to map existing vegetation before works start, and to identify which trees need to be protected, and which trees need to be removed and replaced through new planting.

As well as helping to better identify and protect trees that can be kept near work areas, giving each tree a unique ID number allows for their longer-term health to be monitored throughout the construction period.