Over 24,000 square metres of land has been weeded and over 80 volunteer hours have been spent prepping Porters Creek for this year’s National Tree Day.

Central Coast Council Director Environment and Planning, Scott Cox said he hopes the Central Coast community will be able to come together for a special tree planting event to continue conservation works.

“Council has planted approximately 2,000 native plants on the site in the last 12 months that will help create, enhance and restore natural habitat. We are hoping to build on this great work by inviting Central Coast residents to help us plant another 1,500 more,” Mr Cox said.

“Although community planting events last year were cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, we still found ways to support our community plant trees at home, with a total of 1,880 native plants handed out through our libraries and childcare centres.

“This year we’d like to target an incredibly important area to the south end of Porters Creek Wetland. We plan to provide native trees, shrubs and grasses for planting with instructional talks by Landcare staff and some information stalls on site to answer any environment or biosecurity questions the community may have.

"Council continues to closely follow the latest NSW Government announcements around COVID-19 restrictions and if this event proceeds, it will be hosted in line with any COVID-19 restrictions in place."

Council Administrator, Rik Hart said Council will continue to deliver projects that will see a positive future for the Central Coast community.

“Our community spirit is our strength and as a community we place immense value on our green spaces, this is evident by the success of past tree day events,” Mr Hart said.

“As Council moves towards financial stability, we continue to remain committed to the essential works you’ve told us are important to you including protecting and enhancing the natural environment.”

National Tree day is a nation-wide event organised by Planet Ark. Pending the latest NSW Health and Government advice around COVID-19 restrictions, the community tree planting event will be on 1 August at the Porters Creek Landcare site next to Wyong Christian School on Alison Road, Wyong.

Community members are invited to register for the event by emailing environmentalvolunteering@centralcoast.nsw.gov.au. If the event is unable to proceed, registered attendees will be notified directly.

This project is funded by a $40,000 Local Land Services grant over two years.