Penrith City Council, New South Wales, is revitalising its 35 year old nursey to ensure Council is self-sufficient in the production of local providence plants and shrubs to meet existing and future operational needs.
Council has for many years operated a nursery to support day to day operational requirements of the City Presentation Department including supplying soil, mulch, landscape supplies and the management of fallen trees and branches.
The site has also supported a range of typical nursery functions such as seed collection, plant propagation and growing, and the supply of plants for some Council projects.
Mayor, Ross Fowler OAM welcomed the revitalisation project saying there was number of positive outcomes from the project.
“The first outcome is to bring the nursery up to contemporary standards which is being achieved by implementing the right infrastructure, equipment and tools for its operation.
“From there we can improve the nursery’s capacity to produce the volume and quality of plants required to meet Council’s own requirements for our internal customers such as Sustainability, Bushcare, Major Projects
and Events teams.”
Physical works to be undertaken will include the upgrade of existing amenity facilities, installation of gravel paved work areas and potting tables, pathways, a refurbished glasshouse, improved material store, solar panels, recycled water and the undergrounding of power lines to improve safety and create more usable space.
“As the site matures, we will be able to grow capacity to provide plant giveaways and other programs to support the greening of the City.
Council is also exploring partnership opportunities to provide people with physical or intellectual disabilities opportunities to gain both work and life skills in a nurturing and supporting environment.
“The revitalisation of the nursery is an exciting project that has the capacity to support significant environmental change and provide opportunities for community development.”
Penrith Council plants more than 99,000 trees a year through of a range of programs including the Living Places program which enhances suburban nature strips lacking tree coverage, shade tree planting program for sporting ovals and playgrounds, Trees for Mum/Dad and various Bushcare initiatives.
