Here is the latest draft plan for the upgrade to the Great Western Highway from Boyd Street to Ashworth Drive. In summary, the improvement consists of road-side trees from Littlebourne Street to Ashworth Drive. However, no trees are planned for the section from Boyd Street to Littlebourne Street.
At first you might think that no trees are not that much of a big deal. You also might not want to have an opinion on this issue, as since the days of old growth forest conservation in Tasmania during the 1970’s, people who care about trees, nature or the environment have been labelled with the derogatory term “tree huggers”. Well, it has been more than 40 years since those times, and the world is being dmaged by excessive resource depletion, increased pollution, global warming and all of its consequences, and a tree is more than a tree based on 1970’s thinking and economics. City residents are increasingly disconnected from nature, are under greater emotional stresses, and as a result experience an increased incidence and severity of chronic mental illness; mainly expressed in the form of chronic depression.
If you value trees, and more importantly, the benefits they provide an urban landscape, Bathurst needs your help.
If you want to help, please contact: Bathurst Community Climate Action Network (BCCAN)