More shade and car parking on foreshore

State-of-the-art computer imaging shows how Newcastle City Council's Newcastle Foreshore tree replacement program will transform the area into a greener, more usable space for residents and visitors to the city.

With work beginning this week to remove 170 shrubs and trees from the Foreshore, Council commissioned the striking imagery to illustrate how the precinct will look in future years.

The trees and shrubs removed from the Foreshore will be replaced with approximately 230 plantings, including 130 advanced shade trees.

More than one-third of those shade trees will be Norfolk Island pines, a species that grows successfully in the exposed locations including Foreshore Park.
 
In total, the new trees and shrubs will eventually create a usable shade canopy of about 9,800sqm, up from the 500sqm of usable shade currently cast.
 
"A lot of the trees and shrubs to be removed before the inaugural Newcastle 500 cast very little usable shade due to their position," Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said.
 
"Council has taken this opportunity to replant mature trees and significantly increase the usable shade canopy by 2,000 per cent. We are working to ensure the event is a win-win for Newcastle.
 
"Plans are well advanced for the replanting of the trees in what will produce a far greener Foreshore for all of us to enjoy over the coming years.
 
"The computer modelling shows us that we will soon have a greener, more beautiful space where families will be able to picnic and play, cyclists and pedestrians will be able to move more freely and safely, and where parking will be far easier."
 
Interim CEO Jeremy Bath said the computer imagery would help the community see the long-term benefits of the current tree replacement program.
 
As well as the new trees, the images show how Tug Berth Rd - the one-way lane running parallel to Wharf Rd - will be converted into a dedicated cycleway. A wide shared pathway will connect the Bathers Way at Nobbys Beach with the Joy Cummings Promenade, which leads to Queens Wharf.
 
"The existing path running beside Newcastle pilot station is a narrow bottleneck for both cyclists and pedestrians," Mr Bath said.
 
"These improvements will fix that issue, and pedestrian crossings on Pasha Way and Wharf Rd will make it far safer."
 
Converting the two off-street car parks on Wharf Rd into a single continuous car park will contribute to more than 170 new parking spaces to the precinct, including 10 disabled spaces. Parallel parking will also be available on either side of Wharf Rd, with angle parking provided at Wharf Rd's eastern end.