Many councils have tree registers that detail notable trees of significance in their municipality. Mildura Rural City Council recognises the value of trees in our community, acknowledging their:
- Community and social value
- Ecological and environmental value
- Personal and spiritual value
- Practical and commercial value
- Property value and economic value.
A Visual Tree Assessment was completed for each tree in the register and the tree deemed significant according to conventional criteria used by Heritage Victoria and the National Trust of Australia (Vic).
In addition to recognising their aesthetic value, trees form an important part of cooling our urban environment. Trees are an effective tool in mitigating the heat island effect resulting from the combination of long, hot, dry summers and the hard and impermeable surfaces found in many of our urban environments.
Significant trees are an essential part of our community heritage. Council actively supports the preservation and conservation of trees under its management and control as an invaluable community resource. This Significant Tree Register is prepared for the use of the community and Council staff to assist with raising awareness of significant trees in the municipality.
Protecting these valuable cultural and heritage assets is an important consideration in planning for land use and development that might involve:
- building and/or works in the vicinity of the root zone of significant trees
- when tree pruning or maintenance activities might be required to:
- control risk such as to overhead electrical lines,
- regular maintenance activities (for example mowing of Council lawns and annual replanting of garden beds)
- for safety purposes if the tree structure or health becomes poor or
- for aesthetic reasons where this is appropriate (for example this might include frond and fruit removal for palm trees).
It is imperative that we recognise, respect, care for and carefully manage our Significant Trees in such a way that their health, vitality and longevity is assured and they continue to provide net benefit to the whole community for the full term of their natural life and for future generations of residents.
Mildura Rural City Council has undertaken this project to identify trees on Council land that are of significance in the municipality. The MRCC Signficant Tree Register 2020(PDF, 26MB) includes significant trees on land owned by, or under the control of, Council.
You can find out if you have trees listed as significant near you by going to Mildura Pozi.com and keying in your address or checking the index of the MRCC Significant Tree Register 2020 (endorsed by Council on 27 May 2020). You can search the register's index by Common Name, Botanical Name and Street Address. Each tree in the register has its own citation and is mapped to its locality. The Strategic Planning Team has also developed a useful guide(PDF, 770KB) to show you how to access and use Mildura Pozi to search for Significant Trees on Council owned or managed land (See below for the downloadable guide).
Do you have a tree that you think is significant but you've checked the register or Pozi and you can't find a listing for the tree you're interested in? What's the next step? Information in the MRCC Significant Tree Register 2020 is based on assessments completed in 2012 with minor updates noted where appropriate. Council has commissioned further assessments and it is envisioned that future editions of this register will update the current information about trees listed in this register and expand the list to add to the recognised stock of significant trees across our municipality.
You can nominate trees on Council owned or managed land that you think are significant for assessment in the next review of the register. Just fill out the form here(DOCX, 294KB) and return it to the Strategic Planning Team at Council. Please note that while the next review is not due for a number of years we can record the information you provide for follow up at that time.
For tips on how to use the register please refer to this guide(PDF, 44KB). If you would like to discuss the register, or for more information, please call the Strategic Planning Team on (03) 5018 8100.