2025
The conversation
The Urban Forest Precinct Plans are our street tree implementation guidelines that underpin our Urban Forest Strategy. They outline what is going to be planted where, when and why over the next ten years.
The urban forest is vital for the health and wellbeing of the city, it provides critical ecosystem services such as clean air, water filtration, shade, habitat and carbon sequestration. It also supports a connection to nature for people living in urban areas.
These plans are being renewed for each of our 10 urban forest precincts. We have been speaking to residents in each neighbourhood to help ensure the plans align with community values.
Gathering insights
We conducted community consultation to inform the Kensington Urban Forest Precinct Plans between February 2023 and June 2024. During this time, we held multiple community pop up events, an online survey and a community workshop. Community priorities, values and preferences directly informed the urban forest vision, character and priorities.
We then sought community feedback on the draft Kensington Urban Forest Precinct Plan (PDF 2.86 MB) through an online survey on Participate Melbourne. This survey was open from 1 to 30 August 2025.
Who we heard from
to the Participate Melbourne project page with the draft plan.
of the full draft plan.
with feedback on the draft plan.
These totals are in addition to earlier engagement in 2024 where:
- 41 people registered for the workshop
- 95 people attended the workshop or other in person engagement
- 190 people engaged through an online survey to inform the draft plan.
In total, over 200 community members have been involved in the development of this urban forest precinct plan.
What we heard
Community vision
When asked if this community vision captured hopes for Kensington:
- 72% of survey participants agreed or strongly agreed.
- 14% of survey participants disagreed.
- 14% of survey participants were neutral (neither agree nor disagreed).
Those who disagreed wanted a more holistic plan that not only covers street tree planting but also broader greening initiatives. Some people valued safety more than the urban forest in their local area and did not agree with plans like these being developed.
Community priority areas
Community workshop participants identified areas for improvement in Kensington. When asked how satisfied survey participants were with these areas:
- 58% agreed or strongly agreed.
- 28% disagreed or strongly disagreed.
- 7% were neutral (neither agreed nor disagreed).
Survey participants who disagreed wanted to see larger areas of the municipality prioritised for greening and roadways not impacted by trees.
Street character
The draft plans include a map of street planting types and some recommendations for neighbourhood character in Kensington:
- 79% of survey participants agreed or strongly agreed.
- 14% of survey participants disagreed or strongly disagreed.
- 7% of survey participants were neutral (neither agreed nor disagreed).
Those who disagreed wanted more large, native trees for biodiversity. There were also questions around greening of the private realm within new developments, as the precinct plans only cover street tree planting in the public realm.
Biosecurity
The draft plans outline an approach of replacing certain species in some areas to create 'species breaks' to protect significant populations of high-threat species in Kensington:
- 50% of survey participants agreed or strongly agreed with this approach.
- 14% of survey participants disagreed or strongly disagreed.
- 21% of survey participants were neutral (neither agreed nor disagreed).
Those who disagreed would like to see a greater representation of native trees and a stronger approach to plane tree replacement.
Street prioritisation
The draft plans outlined which streets will be prioritised for planting over the next ten years in Kensington:
- 50% of survey participants agreed or strongly agreed.
- 33% of survey participants disagreed or strongly disagreed.
- 17% of survey participants were neutral (neither agreed nor disagreed).
Those who disagreed wanted more planting done more widely across the municipality, for example along Moonee Ponds Creek and around new developments, such as on Macaulay Road.
Responses to major themes
Comments for Kensington were diverse, with most associated with species selection and biodiversity (22 %), followed by:
- local pests and tree maintenance (16%)
- widespread greening beyond street tree planting (14%)
- comments relating to plane trees (11%).
We heard similar feedback regarding these themes from consultations conducted for draft Urban Forest Precinct Plans in other precincts.
Click to expand on common feedback across all seven neighbourhoods regarding biodiversity, other types of greening, Traditional Owner engagement, tree species selection, and tree replacements.
We heard strong enthusiasm for biodiversity and nature in the city. The City of Melbourne declared a climate and biodiversity emergency in 2019. Prior to this we endorsed a strategy which is specifically aimed at increasing and protecting nature. The Nature in the City Strategy (2017) supports the creation and maintenance of healthy ecosystems and thriving biodiversity within the city and has much more information about our approaches to biodiversity protection and enhancement. It includes our current research on direct seeded indigenous grasslands and indigenous understorey streetscapes.
We have recently gathered data on the biodiversity potential of all our tree species. Biodiversity value will be a leading component of tree selection choice over the next ten years.
Many comments showed enormous enthusiasm for greening in general within our city. These precinct plans focus on street tree planting, but we have heard ambitious visions for a pedestrian led, green and sustainable city. We received suggestions for closing streets, removing carparks, vertical and rooftop greening and community greening initiatives thriving. There are many other City of Melbourne initiatives that cover some of these areas, such as the Future Streets Framework, Greenline, The Green Factor Tool, Gardens for Wildlife and The Urban Forest Fund.
In the full draft document, you will find our approach to Traditional Owner engagement. This includes on-going aspirations for engagement with First Nations Peoples which are included here:
- Respect Aboriginal values and priorities through the planning of the urban forest.
- Maintain regular meetings with Traditional Owners to discuss. management of our urban forest.
- Identify culturally significant trees and collaborate with Traditional. Owners on programs to protect and celebrate them.
- Ensure that pre-colonial tree species and other vegetation are visible in the urban forest and throughout the city.
How people feel about their local urban forest matters. We heard a range of diverse opinions on street trees.
Many comments related to species selection. For example we heard that people love plane trees, dislike plane trees, love native trees, dislike native trees, like deciduous trees for winter sunlight and dislike the litter from falling leaves each autumn. Some participants would like trees that provide habitat, while others would like colour in the urban forest and some are concerned about the climate suitability of different trees.
Specific tree species selection is overseen by qualified and experienced arborists. They consider factors such as site locations, space requirements, community preference, biodiversity value, Traditional Owner engagement, climate suitability and environmental tolerances in the decision of every tree planted in the municipality.
One of the benefits of a precinct-level approach to planning the urban forest is that we can capture and incorporate a wide palette of species in the municipality but maintain unique neighbourhood identities through urban forest design.
We heard comments related to protecting existing trees and how we replace our trees.
Replacement of individual trees is an on-going process. Replacement trees are planted the following season where possible. New trees undergo three years of intensive maintenance after planting to give them the best start. It is best practice to plant young trees so they can grow and adapt safely to the site conditions, rather than mature specimens which typically find it harder to adjust to the urban ecosystem when transplanted. All trees are maintained through their lives and routinely assessed for health and risk.
As outlined in the Urban Forest Strategy, the City of Melbourne identifies its tree population as critical infrastructure and an asset that provides innumerable environmental and health benefits to the municipality. All works that have the potential to impact public trees owned or managed by The City of Melbourne are covered by the Tree Policy (2021). This policy outlines protection and retention requirements for public trees.
Examples of what we heard
Impact
The findings of this engagement include both the early conversations had during the workshop engagement period and the more recent survey focusing on the draft document. Together, this feedback will inform the final Kensington Urban Forest Precinct Plan.
The support we have received throughout this process indicates the value in involving the community early to create a collaborative document with a joint sense of ownership.
This precinct planning process contributes to the unique urban forest identity developed and maintained by each neighbourhood.
The new Kensington Urban Forest Precinct Plan will seek to plant a diversity of tree species reflecting the community's rich cultural backgrounds.
Next steps
The final Kensington Urban Forest Precinct Plan will be presented to the Future Melbourne Committee (FMC) for endorsement in 2026. Once endorsed, implementation will commence.
2024
We conducted community consultation to inform the Kensington Urban Forest Precinct Plans between February 2023 and July 2024.
During this time, we held multiple community pop up events, an online survey and a community workshop.
One hundred and eighty four community members have participated in this engagement so far, with 75 in person interactions and 109 online contributions.
Community priorities, values and preferences directly inform the urban forest vision, character, priorities in the draft Kensington Urban Forest Precinct Plan and the subsequent urban forest management in local areas.
The community’s vision for the future of Kensington urban forest is:
“Kensington’s urban forest contributes to a walkable, self-sustaining residential suburb, builds on existing green spaces, preserves heritage and urban character, creates harmony between green spaces and built environments with native species and habitat corridors for wildlife, and involves the community in planting and maintaining green spaces”.
A draft Urban Forest Precinct Plan has been developed based on data and principles of urban design, tree canopy cover, current tree types in the neighbourhood, and what we heard from community. You can provide feedback on the draft Kensington Urban Forest Precinct Plan via our online survey.
