THE ENVIRONMENT
Canopy Cover, Green Space, Community Space Map
COMMUNITY SPACE
COMMUNITY SPACE A study by Arup (2014) outlines that the design of communities on a local and neighbourhood scale plays an integral role in establishing resilient and sustainable communities. Northcote’s progressive and sustainability-focused community attitudes are evident in the community gardens, parks and vegetated nature strips spread throughout the western portion of the precinct (see map right). Land parcels surrounding the Mernda line corridor host a variety of inclusive community foci. One of which is the Northcote Community Garden (see Figure 31), which encourages residents to contribute to sustainable initiatives such as a community composting system. Other spaces along the train line offer opportunities to re-invigorate already established spaces, such as tennis courts, basketball courts and playgrounds. A unique asset of the suburbs is residents’ enthusiasm to develop nature strips into both garden patches or vegetable gardens. This is concentrated most predominantly around Croxton Primary School and Northcote Station.
CANOPY COVER Adequate canopy cover is a key element of a climate ready precinct. Canopy cover significantly reduces both carbon emission and urban heat. A 10% increase in canopy cover and vegetation can also reduce surface temperatures by 1 degree when exposed to daytimesunlight (Norton, et al. 2015). Over the last 4 years Northcote has experienced an increase in vegetation cover of 5-10% across the entire suburb. Majority of canopy cover is prevalent along Merri Creek and Northcote Golf Course. However, due to the expected increasing in global temperatures, it is integral that canopy cover is focussed on areas such as streetscapes and small scale vegetation integration, as well as implementing increased canopy cover in existing open spaces.
Figure 31, Vegetable gardens (Left to Right, St Georges Road, Northcote Community Garden, Bird Avenue)
