Councils foot the bill of Cyclone Marcus’ damage
DARWIN Council has committed to planting 5000 trees this year as its efforts to green the city continue a year after Cyclone Marcus
Northern Territory
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DARWIN Council has committed to planting 5000 trees this year as its efforts to green the city continue a year after Cyclone Marcus.
The tropical cyclone’s path of destruction saw thousands of trees felled across Darwin with almost 7000 tonnes of green waste passing through the Shoal Bay Waste Management facility.
Few stumps remain and are set to be cleared in the next month, while irrigation repairs will take place at most of the council’s 212 parks as the damage bill reached $15 million.
MORE >> CYCLONE MARCUS TORE THROUGH DARWIN ON SATURDAY, LEAVING A HUGE CLEAN UP JOB IN ITS TRAIL
A year on from the cyclone, 450 trees are to be planted across the municipality as part of the “Replanting of Darwin” project.
Thirty-five of those trees will be planted at Millner’s Tong Luck park in Millner.
Darwin council parks and reserves technical officer Jamie Lewis said tree species were selected for differing locations across the city.
“All the trees here have been assessed as resilient but it’s about finding the right tree for the right spot,” he said. “We’ve got trees that are suitable for providing shade, pretty trees to provide colour, native trees to provide good sources and food for wildlife, so we’ve got a broad range.”
Across the Berrimah Line, Cyclone Marcus destroyed 3500 trees in the Palmerston council area.
Palmerston offered green waste collected from verges and free mulch to residents.
Palmerston mayor Athina Pascoe-Bell said she was impressed with the community’s efforts in working together to rebuild Palmerston after the cyclone hit.
“The community responded very well to the cyclone, getting involved in cleaning up quite quickly,” she said.
“Following Cyclone Marcus, we also had a significant response to the pre-cyclone season hard waste kerbside collection at the start of this wet season. More hard waste was collected than in previous years, which is probably a good indicator that residents took on-board the message to clean up their yards prior to this year’s cyclone season.”
MORE >> THE DAMAGE AND RECOVERY OF DARWIN’S ICONIC OUTDOOR CINEMA
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