Monday, October 05, 2015
City of London
Industrial area goes green thanks to TD Green Streets grant
The City of London is pleased to announce it has been selected by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (TD FEF) and Tree Canada to receive a $15,000 TD Green Streets grant for its urban forestry initiative to plant trees in industrial areas. The City of London was one of 25 municipalities selected to receive a grant for the 2014 TD Green Streets program.
Land on Neptune Crescent, located in an industrial area east of the Veterans Memorial Parkway, is being transformed into a green oasis of shade trees and a new woodland of over 300 trees and shrubs. Additional trees will be planted on a second nearby parcel on Sovereign Road, finishing the creation of a new woodland in that area as well. Collectively, the total number of new trees planted is expected to be over 1000.
450 of the trees planted were done so to fulfill a commitment Mayor Matt Brown made at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference hosted in London last spring. The Mayor promised to plant a tree for every delegate in attendance.
The new green space will host a new woodland and provide a beautiful and relaxing lunch green amenity for surrounding businesses and a short trail. Studies show that even brief exposure to nature has positive physiological and mental benefits for humans. Green areas are a natural magnet for people on their lunch or on a break.
“A big thank you to TD. This is a great example of thinking outside of the box and a unique way to make London greener,” said Mayor Matt Brown.
In addition to being a new amenity, this future park in an industrial setting will hopefully be an inspiration to other London industries, showing them how desirable and valuable added trees in industrial areas can be. It will also serve local residents in an area where there is little park space available.
“To truly be the Forest City, we need to plant and grow our tree canopy on all kinds of land use areas. Industrial areas have an old-fashioned aesthetic of vast mown turf grass areas,” said Dean Sheppard, Executive Director, ReForest London. “Every new tree planted benefits our community and ReForest London is able to help any interested industry or business with exploring how to get more trees in their local area.”
“The goal of TD Green Streets is to encourage the adoption of leading-edge practices in municipal forests, and we want to commend the City of London for ongoing efforts to build a healthy urban forest," said Mary Desjardins, Executive Director, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation. "This pilot project is a great model for public and private/partnerships that we hope more communities will adopt as they work to grow and care for their urban forests.
“We congratulate the City of London for developing an initiative that will create an important green space in their community,” says Michael Rosen, President of Tree Canada. “We’re pleased that we have been able to support the efforts of London and we look forward to seeing their plan come to life.”
TD Green Streets is open to Canadian municipalities, First Nations communities and Business Improvement Associations (BIAs) in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Submissions are reviewed by regional Tree Canada Community Advisers, Board Members, urban forest practitioners and TD Friends of the Environment Foundation representatives based on innovation, community involvement and technical expertise.
Media Contacts:
Ivan Listar, Manager, Urban Forestry
City of London
519-661-2500 ext 4977
ilistar@london.ca
Dean Sheppard, Executive Director
ReForest London
519-936-9548 ext 223
dean@reforestlondon.ca
Amanda Tran, Corporate and Public Affairs
TD Bank
416-983-7212
amanda.tran@td.com
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