This article was written for the April edition of the Mitcham Community News. Plastic Problems Plastic packaging usage in Australia is becoming an increasingly expensive problem. I certainly don’t think I am the only person frustrated at seeing produce in the supermarket unnecessarily wrapped in plastic or struggling to work out if packaging from a certain product can be recycled. South Australia does a pretty good job when it comes to recycling plastic, especially compared w

Early in January, the City of Burnside shared some astonishing pictures to their Facebook page, showing the significant difference that trees and other forms of urban greening like grass, shrubs etc made in reducing the temperature of streets. Unshaded bitumen had a temperature of 65°C, over 28°C hotter than parts covered by tree canopy. Verges showed a similar story, with ones containing grass, small shrubs / groundcovers being significantly cooler than those with no greenin

This term, Council has made substantial investments in enhancing its tree management capabilities. Trees are an integral part of the city’s identity in my opinion, a key reason why many of us love living here. Mitcham is lucky to have high levels of tree canopy, but it is not something we can take for granted. With limited protections on private land (especially in the hills) due to State Government exemptions, there is an important need to maintain and grow Council’s tree ca

In my June Mitcham Community News article , I wrote about the Council Assessment Panel’s role in making planning decisions based off the...