Water & environment · Woollahra Municipal Council
Woollahra street-tree draft sets 75% target for dominant species
The revised plan would limit each street or segmented section to no more than two dominant or priority species across a target 75% of trees, but final adoption is still pending.
Reporting from draft minutes. Recorded wording may change when confirmed. How this article was prepared
Woollahra’s revised draft Street Tree Master Plan was endorsed for eight weeks of public exhibition, with a proposed limit of no more than two dominant or priority species covering a target 75% of trees in each street or segmented section.
The Strategic & Corporate Committee also endorsed introducing Priority Species for streets with an established avenue character, changes to individual street species palettes, and street segmentation where physical conditions or established streetscape character justify it. The amendments include tree-form or canopy icons in the plan’s data sheets.
References to Celtis Australis are to be removed and replaced with a deciduous species selected by staff before exhibition. The draft also includes Agathis Robusta in the proposed street palette where councillor feedback had nominated Agathis Australis.
A separate Master Planting Investigation List was endorsed for progressive site investigation through the Urban Forest Strategy. Its inclusion of potential locations does not confirm feasibility, approval, funding or delivery, according to the resolution.
After public exhibition, Council is to receive a report outlining submissions and any further recommended amendments before any final adoption of the Street Tree Master Plan. The committee also requested that Council be advised at its December 2026 meeting when QR codes will be installed on Council street-tree plantings, with information about species and, ideally, expected height and suitability.
The unconfirmed minutes record the motion as carried by 12 votes to none, but the division lists Councillor Torsten and Councillor Witt separately while the attendance list names Torsten Merrill Witt as one councillor. That inconsistency prevents verification of the actual tally from the supplied record. This report describes the recorded committee resolution rather than a final adopted master plan.
What deserves a closer look
The recorded resolution endorses a revised draft for public exhibition but does not establish final adoption.
The proposed species target and the investigation list should not be read as guarantees of particular plantings or delivery.
The December 2026 date concerns requested advice about QR-code installation timing, not an installation deadline.
Questions for follow-up reporting
Which deciduous species will staff select to replace references to Celtis Australis before exhibition?
Which locations on the Master Planting Investigation List will be found feasible and funded for delivery?
When will Council install the requested QR codes on its street-tree plantings?
What happens next
Place the revised draft Street Tree Master Plan on public exhibition for eight weeks, as endorsed by the committee.
Present a further report after exhibition outlining submissions and any recommended amendments before any final adoption of the Street Tree Master Plan.
Provide the advice requested for Council's December 2026 meeting on when QR codes will be installed on Council street-tree plantings.
Check the record
These passages were matched to the source text. Read them in context in the original minutes.
The minutes of the Strategic & Corporate Committee meeting of 9 November 2026 are marked unconfirmed.
Strategic & Corporate Committee Monday, 9 November 2026 6:30 PM Minutes UNCONFIRMED Woollahra Municipal Council Strategic & Corporate Committee 9 November 2026 Strategic & Corporate Committee Meeting Minutes of the Meeting of Strategic & Corporate Committee held at the Council Chambers, 536 New South Head Road, Double Bay, on 9 November 2026 at 6:30 PM.
Document title and meeting details
Open original minutes ↗The update on the draft Woollahra Street Tree Masterplan is recorded as resolution 734/2026.
Update on the draft review of the Woollahra Street Tree Masterplan Note: The Committee added new items ii, iii, and iv to Part B, and added new Parts G and H ahead of the vote. (Councillor Robertson/Councillor Zeltzer) 734/2026 Resolved: THAT Council: A.
Item 8.3, resolution 734/2026
Open original minutes ↗The listed amendments include introducing Priority Species for streets with an established avenue character.
B. Endorses the amendments to the draft Street Tree Master Plan identified in Schedule 1: Recommended amendments to the draft STMP within this report, including: i.introduction of Priority Species for streets with an established avenue character;
Resolution 734/2026, part B(i)
Open original minutes ↗The amendments provide for no more than two dominant or priority species in each street or segmented section, with a target of 75% of trees, and include planting Agathis Robusta where councillor feedback nominated Agathis Australis.
ii.each street or segmented section of a street is to have no more than two dominant or priority species for a target of 75% of trees; iii.include planting of Agathis Robusta in the proposed street palette where nominated in councillor feedback as Agathis Australis;
Resolution 734/2026, parts B(ii)-(iii)
Open original minutes ↗All references to Celtis Australis are to be deleted and replaced with a deciduous species selected by staff before exhibition.
iv.all references to Celtis Australis are to be deleted from the masterplan and replaced with a deciduous species suitably selected by staff prior to exhibition; v.clarification of the relationship between species diversity and avenue character;
Resolution 734/2026, part B(iv)
Open original minutes ↗The amendments include changes to individual street species palettes, segmentation where physical conditions or established streetscape character justify it, and tree-form or canopy icons in Street Tree Data Sheets.
vi.supported changes to individual street species palettes; vii.segmentation of selected streets where justified by physical conditions or established streetscape character; viii.inclusion of tree-form or canopy icons in the Street Tree Data Sheets.
Resolution 734/2026, parts B(vi)-(viii)
Open original minutes ↗Part C provides for eight weeks of public exhibition of the revised draft Woollahra Street Tree Master Plan, incorporating the amendments in Part B.
C. Endorses the revised draft Woollahra Street Tree Master Plan, incorporating the amendments referred to in Part B, for public exhibition for a period of 8 weeks. D. Notes the staff responses and proposed actions identified in Schedule 2: Matters noted or progressed outside the STMP.
Resolution 734/2026, part C
Open original minutes ↗The Master Planting Investigation List is described as a record of potential planting opportunities for progressive site investigation through the Urban Forest Strategy, without confirming feasibility, approval, funding or delivery.
E. Endorses the Master Planting Investigation List at Attachment 2 and 3 as a record of potential planting opportunities for progressive site investigation through implementation of the Urban Forest Strategy, noting that inclusion of a location does not confirm feasibility, approval, funding or delivery.
Resolution 734/2026, part E
Open original minutes ↗Source record
Reporting from the unconfirmed minutes of Woollahra Municipal Council’s Strategic & Corporate Committee meeting of 9 November 2026.
Key facts from the minutes
- The committee endorsed the revised draft Street Tree Master Plan for eight weeks of public exhibition.
- The draft proposes no more than two dominant or priority species for each street or segmented street section, with a target of 75% of trees.
- The plan would introduce Priority Species for streets with an established avenue character and replace references to Celtis Australis with a deciduous species selected by staff before exhibition.
- A Master Planting Investigation List records potential opportunities but does not confirm feasibility, approval, funding or delivery.
- A further report on submissions and recommended amendments is to follow exhibition before any final adoption, while advice on QR-code installation timing is requested for the December 2026 Council meeting.
Why it matters
- The draft could influence future street-tree species and how avenue character is managed, while the investigation list does not commit Council to particular plantings, locations, funding or delivery.