MINUTES OF Ordinary Meeting of Council
HELD ON Tuesday, 17 December 2024

Ku-ring-gai Green Grid Draft Strategy File: S12691Vide: GB.9 

To provide an overview of the draft Ku-ring-gai Green Grid Strategy and seek Council’s endorsement to place the draft strategy on public exhibition. 

Resolved: (Moved: Councillors Spencer/Pettett) That Council endorse the draft Ku-ring-gai Green Grid Strategy for public exhibition

The draft Ku-ring-gai Green Grid Strategy is proposed be placed on public exhibition following a decision that Ku-ring-gai Council will make at their Ordinary Meeting of Council – 17 December 2024 GB 9.

The Green Grid is a NSW Planning initiative to identify green spaces is public open space such as parks or recreation areas and bushland as serving ecological corridors to promote biodiversity.

However, the NSW Government’s Housing SEPPs – Transport Oriented Development & Low to Mid-Rise Housing – threatens Ku-ring-gai’s tree canopy, trees, green garden landscape.

Ku-ring-gai Green Grid Draft Strategy

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Purpose of report:	To provide an overview of the draft Ku-ring-gai Green Grid Strategy and seek Council’s endorsement to place the draft strategy on public exhibition.
Background:	The Sydney Green Grid project is a metropolitan wide strategy with projects to be delivered by local authorities to connect Sydney’s green spaces. In simple terms it can be described as “a network of corridors to connect green spaces and centres”. These corridors are made up of paths, bike lanes, trails, and vegetation. This means they serve the dual purpose of allowing people to walk or use active transport to get between open spaces and centres and serve as ecological corridors to promote biodiversity. These green spaces can be public open space such as parks or recreation areas and bushland.
Comments:	The draft strategy has been developed by Council staff in parallel with the Urban Forest Strategy and as an output of the LSPS. The development of the network has included collaboration with external stakeholders.
Recommendation:(Refer to the full Recommendation at the end of this report)	That Council endorse the draft Green Grid Strategy for public exhibition.

Purpose of Report

To provide an overview of the draft Ku-ring-gai Green Grid Strategy and seek Council’s endorsement to place the draft strategy on public exhibition.

Background

The aim of the Ku-ring-gai Green Grid is to facilitate the connection of key areas of public and private open space, national parks and bushland, suburbs, key local and neighbourhood centres and adjacent Local Government Areas (LGA’s).

The purpose of this strategy is to prepare a Ku-ring-gai specific local Green Grid as outlined in the Local Strategic Planning Statement (LSPS). This includes:

• Reviewing and assessing the practicality and feasibility of the Sydney Green Grid Projects identified for the Ku-ring-gai LGA;
• reviewing and assessing the practicality and feasibility Ku-ring-gai walking trails as identified within the Ku-ring-gai Destination Management Plan 2017 -2020;
• reporting on how the Green Grid may support potential biodiversity connections and corridors as per the Ku-ring-gai Biodiversity and Riparian Lands Study Version 5;
• articulating a vision, goals and actions for the strategy;
• recommending a preferred network for the Green Grid; and
• defining a staging and implementation plan.
  
  

Ku-ring-gai’s Local Strategic Planning Statement (LSPS) adopted in 2020 gives details of the framework for our Ku-ring-gai green grid which will deliver on both the metropolitan network and our own local grid.

The Local Strategic Planning Statement Priorities that are relevant to the Ku-ring-gai Green Grid Strategy are summarised below:

•    K32. Protecting and improving Green Grid connections.

•    K33. Providing a network of walking and cycling links for leisure and recreation.

Since the adoption of the LSPS we have been developing our Green Grid Strategy in conjunction with the Urban Forest Strategy adopted in 2022.

Comments

Country

Underpinning the Green Grid is the long history of first nations peoples’ care and connection to the land. Whilst much of this knowledge has been lost through dispossession, displacement and death, evidence remains of the cultural relationships with the land that can be embraced and acknowledged through the Green Grid.

Establish and build relationships that are ongoing

Relationships – Aboriginal Heritage Office (AHO) and exploring further opportunities. Council has a key stake in the AHO and will continue to foster this relationship. Reaching out to engage and build new relationships with other cultural contacts and community members will be ongoing.

Seek knowledge – co-design and co-manage

Walking Country – walking is fundamental to the Green Grid. Walking on Country during the analysis phase assists in building understanding of the land and determining appropriate routes. As part of relationship building, opportunities for doing this with first nations people will be investigated throughout the life cycle of the project.

Protect and respect heritage

Working towards maintaining the integrity of significant sites by either providing interpretation opportunities, or discouraging access to them.

Objectives

These objectives articulate the overarching vision for what Council wants our Green Grid to deliver.

Increased canopy cover across the LGA

Ku-ring-gai benefits from a well-established and extensive urban tree canopy. Pressures from development, climate change and risk mitigation all impact on how this can thrive and expand. Clear targets for the delivery of an improved urban forest canopy are essential for ensuring the longevity and success of our urban forest. Green Grid projects are fundamental to achieving this.

A consolidated active transport network providing comfortable walking and cycling routes

Active transport is critical in sustainable progress towards meeting climate change mitigation targets. Council is pursuing opportunities to develop the best possible links that provide the infrastructure to support both walking and cycling transport options. Integral to the comfort of these routes are shade and an aesthetically pleasing environment, which co-ordinated street tree planting as part of the Green Grid can deliver.

Walkable connections between points of interest in the LGA

Local Centres, historic sites, parks and recreation facilities all provide points of interest within the LGA which residents want to access. The Ku-ring-gai Green Grid will endeavour to make walking the preferred way to get to, from and between these points by improving green infrastructure interventions along these routes, ensuring they are shaded, pleasant and accessible.

Enhanced biodiversity and riparian corridors

Fundamental to the Green Grid is the enhancement and protection of our existing natural systems. These need to be supported and expanded wherever possible. The balance needs to be struck between creating new connections to re-link patches of bushland, and allowing the appropriate level of access to sensitive areas.

Approach

The high-level plan developed for the LSPS gave the overarching locations for potential routes.

The high level proposed routes identified in the LSPS as:

•    Ku-ring-gai Green Grid

•    Walking Grid

•    Ecological Grid

•    Hydrological Grid

Layers

Recreational Grid – our recreational grid incorporates open space such as parks, sports fields, reserves and play spaces, along with bushland including nature reserves and National Parks.

Ecological Grid – the ecological grid captures areas of environmental significance encompassing existing and remnant bushland. It identifies a range of vegetation communities shaped by the local soils and topography including those that have been fragmented by development.

Hydrological Grid – rivers, creek and waterways including those encapsulated in grey infrastructure constitute our hydrological grid.

It is important to note that these layers are interconnected with some elements inherent to all layers, particularly our extensive areas of bushland characteristic of Ku-ring-gai.

The initiation of the strategy has been a staged approach. The Stage 1 background studies report has provided the foundation for our exploration of the network, allowing us to examine precedents and our own opportunities and constraints.

Stage 2 has included our in-depth mapping and analysis. We have examined the range of data that will influence the network, including physical, climatic, cultural, governance and movement considerations.

The analysis has led us to develop and refine the network that was established as part of the greater Sydney Green Grid and the Ku-ring-gai Green Grid. The network is now defined down to street level based on compilation of the data. The selection of all the routes regardless of scale have been guided by an accumulation of features, existing infrastructure, and accessibility.

|Opportunities and constraints were analysed at an LGA wide level for the following focus areas:

•    Density and Zoning

•    Local Character

•    Heritage

•    Key Destinations and Attractions

•    Transport

•    Open Space

•    Heat Mapping

•    Canopy

•    Biodiversity

•    Hydrology

•    Topography

The base data has been overlaid to identify cumulative features that provide the most opportunities and least constraints. This broad-brush approach aimed to produce corridors of activation for further analysis.

Opportunities

The key opportunities relate to ease of access relating to topography and existing infrastructure, and those routes that incorporate the most significant points of interest and destinations.

Constraints

Constraints on the network include steep topography, narrow infrastructure corridors, and desirability of walking environment. Busy roads with little vegetative buffer present a more challenging environment to retrofit, and alternatives to these routes were explored.

Network

Regional connections – these are the predominant north-south corridors following the Pacific Highway and North Shore rail line and east-west links encompassing Ryde Road and Mona Vale Road. The Pacific Highway corridor is the main spine of the route however it deviates in and around centres encompassing the rail corridor for an optimised journey. The table highlights the opportunities and the key layers it engages with across Ecological, Hydrological, Recreational, Cultural and Active Transport/Public Domain considerations. Regional routes are primarily guided by the public domain plans for local centres and would include many of the elements within the suite of green grid components. This would incorporate shared paths separated bike lanes, street tree planting, passive irrigation, street furniture, understory planting, signage and undergrounding of power.

Suburban connections intersect suburban boundaries and interface with neighbouring councils. Suburban routes have been selected to provide connections along routes that link key destinations and are desirable to walk along. Determining which road was selected over another included reviewing movement mapping showing the frequency of use by people walking or cycling. Topography, existing footpaths, and multiple destinations along a route such as schools or shops helped to determine its selection. Suburban routes typically have existing trees and footpaths, but wherever possible these will be enhanced to fill in the gaps – additional tree planting, understory planting and interpretive signage. Where possible, more intensive infrastructure interventions will be made – incorporating bike lanes, planting blisters and WSUD elements.

Local link connections are the more small-scale interventions that highlight local points of interest and fill the gaps in suburban connections. Local links are more fine grain and may be as straightforward as “how do I get from the park to the coffee shop?” They also provide the missing links between larger scale routes. These routes are a key driver for active transport and encouraging people to avoid taking the car for a short trip. This promotes a healthy lifestyle and social cohesion – getting active, improving physical health outcomes and stopping to chat with a neighbour, improving mental and social outcomes. Local routes may be limited to tree planting, understorey planting, and signage.

Trail connections are the more ecologically focused routes directly connecting existing trails through bushland. Trail connections are tracks through natural areas. Many of these are existing and may only require minimal interventions to improve them. Trails may include path upgrades and signage.

Elements

Transforming these routes into green corridors will include the following key components:

·    Street tree planting – new trees will be planted on streets where there are opportunities, focusing on those areas with low canopy cover;

·    footpaths and bike lanes – whilst the aim is to work with routes that already have existing infrastructure, where new footpaths, shared paths or bike lanes need to be built this will be co-ordinated with street tree and under planting, passive irrigation, traffic calming, and any changes to electricity assets;

·    verge and median planting – wherever possible, layered, biodiverse native planting will be incorporated;

·    aerial cable bundling or undergrounding of power – where undergrounding of power is cost-prohibitive, aerial cable bundling will be incorporated to provide increased opportunity for canopy trees;

·    water sensitive urban design treatments – rain gardens to capture and filter stormwater run-off, passive irrigation such as breaks in kerbs, and swales; and

·    interpretive signage – signs along routes that highlight culturally significant information around first nation’s history and native fauna and flora.

integrated planning and reporting

Theme 3 – Places, Spaces and Infrastructure

Focus area P6: Enhancing recreation, sporting and leisure facilities

Community Strategic Plan Long Term Objective	Delivery ProgramTerm Achievement	Operational PlanTask
Long-Term Objective P6.1: Recreation, sporting and leisure facilities are available to meet the community’s diverse and changing needs.	P6.1.1: A program is implemented to improve existing recreation, sportingand leisure facilities and deliver new multi-use sporting facilities and opportunities.	P6.1.1.9: Progress preparation of Green Grid Strategyconsistent with Council’s Local Strategic PlanningStatement (LSPS).

Governance Matters

The State Government of NSW has in place several mechanisms to ensure that access to green space and enhanced biodiversity across the state is increased. Premier’s Planning Priorities, The Greater Sydney Region Plan: A Metropolis of Three Cities, and the North District Plan all include objectives relating to increasing canopy cover and improving walking and cycling connections. The preparation of the Ku-ring-gai Green Grid Strategy is a requirement of the Local Strategic Planning Statement (LSPS) to facilitate the delivery of these objectives.

Strategic planning of the Green Grid in the Council is driven by the Ku-ring-gai Community Strategic Plan 2038 and Council’s Operational Plan and Delivery Program. Community Strategic Plans are required by all Councils in NSW under the Integrated Planning and Reporting (IP&R) Framework.

Risk Management

The production of the Green Grid Strategy document has managed risk through ongoing cross-discipline reviews, and well-managed internal resourcing. A working group has been engaged with regular review meetings with collation of internal feedback utilised to develop the documents.

The implementation of the strategy will be subject to risk assessments carried out by the relevant department prior to conducting any work.

Financial Considerations

Preparation of the Strategy has been funded by funds specifically allocated to the project following endorsement of LSPS.

There are presently a number of grant opportunities that provide funding towards Green Grid projects from the State Government.

Also there are some S7.11 funds allocated for construction of new walking tracks. Further discussion will be provided as part of future reporting.

Social Considerations

The implementation of the Green Grid network will have a range of social benefits, including:

·    Social connection. As a part of the Urban forest, these spaces improve social connection; they offer a sense of place and support community interaction through events, festivals and passive daily interaction. Parts of the urban forest can become closely linked with people’s identities and sense of place.

·    Community cohesiveness. Studies have also shown that green space in major Australian cities is unevenly distributed, with less green space in areas with a higher proportion of low-income residents. Improving the distribution of green space and urban forests in Ku-ring-gai may foster improved community cohesiveness and a sense of shared identity across the City.

·    Health benefits by improving the opportunities for walking and cycling which form part of an active healthy lifestyle.

Environmental Considerations

The contribution of green infrastructure to ecosystem services is significant. These services include air and water filtration, shade, habitat for animals, oxygen production, carbon sequestration, and nutrient cycling. Add to this the connection that the urban forest and green infrastructure provides between nature and people, and it’s clear that trees and vegetation have a crucial role as part of an urban landscape. From the native fauna species that have improved access to food and shelter, to community members who have enhanced recreational opportunities and water and air quality, to individual property owners who have a more comfortable environment and often increased property resale value – all benefit from a robust and extensive urban forest supported by green infrastructure.

The environmental benefits of the green grid include:

·    Greenhouse gas mitigation and reduction;

·    improved air quality;

·    water cycling and erosion mitigation;

·    biodiversity; and

·    reduction of the urban heat island effect.

Community Consultation

Community engagement is fundamental to achieving sustainability and biodiversity goals. We need to work with the community to ensure our target areas are the right locations for achieving well-being for residents and our environment. An engaged community supports stewardship an investment in the environment.

Public exhibition of the draft strategy document forms the first phase of our community engagement. Once the Strategy is adopted, we will undertake more targeted consultation on a ward-by-ward basis to further refine the proposed routes and inform the action and implementation plan.

This will involve targeted communication between staff and the community, meeting in local parks to discuss how people get around their suburb and where they would like to see improved access to make their journey more comfortable.

Internal Consultation

A working group from multiple departments across Council was established at the commencement of the project and has met regularly to review the progress of the Strategy.

Councillor briefing

A Councillor briefing was held on Wednesday, 5 June 2024 at Council Chambers and online via Teams. Staff presented their work to date and answered questions posed in relation to the strategy.

Summary

The development of the Ku-ring-gai Green Grid Strategy has been an intensely collaborative process involving internal and external stakeholders, and the community. The resulting draft strategy is the culmination of extensive research and best practice examples which will provide the most beneficial outcomes for the LGA.

The draft Green Grid Strategy is a practical, considered, and meaningful guide and its endorsement will enable Council to progress the finalisation of the Strategy ensuring positive outcomes for our community and the environment.

Recommendation:

A.   That Council endorse the draft Ku-ring-gai Green Grid Strategy for public exhibition

 Fleur Rees Senior Landscape Architect

Jacob Sife Acting Director Strategy and Environment

 Bill Royal Team Leader Urban Design