Council adopts an Urban Cooling Strategy

Wagga Wagga City Council has adopted the inaugural Urban Cooling Strategy 2022-2052, a 30-year plan to help cool our city through sustainable future developments and adapting public spaces.

At its Ordinary Meeting on Monday night (12 December), Council agreed to adopt the Urban Cooling Strategy after reviewing submissions received during the exhibition period of the draft strategy document.

Director Community Janice Summerhayes said the development of an Urban Cooling Strategy was critical to increase community health, wellbeing and resilience to climate change, and the inherent risks associated with a warming environment.

“An important element to cooling our city is the goal to enhance our urban canopy cover,” Ms Summerhayes said.

“This strategy addresses the gaps that we have in our canopy cover across the city and was based on thermal imaging to understand how suburbs compare in terms of temperature and canopy cover."

Among many other actions within the Urban Cooling Strategy, Council will look at developing a detailed Urban Tree Management Plan which will drive how Council approaches tree planting through the city.

The strategy also includes actions that community members can undertake, such as planting more trees and shrubs in your garden, reducing the number of hard surfaces on your property and, where possible, choosing a lighter coloured roof for your home or shed.