500 new trees are taking root across the borough of Rochdale as part of the council’s commitment to increase urban tree cover.
The work is possible thanks to the donation of 472 trees from City of Trees – Greater Manchester’s community forest.
Several selected sites will benefit from the large standard trees funded through the Northern Forest funding programme and will be the largest number of semi-mature trees planted in one season, with additional trees funded by the council to help expand tree canopy.
In Middleton 118 trees will be planted in Penrhyn Park, St Leonard’s, Cheltenham Green, Buttermere Drive, Mere Avenue, Mainway, and the Langley Corridor.
Across the Pennines, 149 trees will be planted at Beadle Avenue, Stubley Mill Road, Barnes Meadow, Halliwell Street, and Elizabethan Way.
While in Heywood, 97 trees will be planted at Higher Lomax Lane, Cherwell Avenue, Wilton Grove, Greenfield Court, Waterfold Lane, Argyle Street and Sutherland Road.
Rochdale will benefit from 108 trees at Ashfield Valley, Waithlands Road, Ings Lane Library, Ings Lane Play area, Petrus, and Denehurst Park, including 5 mixed fruit trees.
Expanding tree canopy in urban environments improves how an area looks, but more importantly, provides shade, aids biodiversity, regulates temperatures, intercepts rainfall, and contributes to air purification by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen to play an essential role in air quality.
