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THE CITY WEST WATER DESALINATION TREATMENT PLANT SITUATED WITHIN THE WESTERN VOLCANIC PLAIN COASTAL CATCHMENT IN WERRIBEE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, IS BOUND BY ASPHALT ROADS DIVIDING THE SURROUNDING LIVESTOCK-TURNED MAZE AND COTTON FARMS ESTABLISHED FROM THE FIRST ARRIVAL OF THE EUROPEAN STOCK AND SETTLEMENT IN THE 1830’S.

 

THE PROJECT EXPLORED POTENTIAL INDUSTRY-LED METHODOLOGY FOR GENERATING A NEW WESTERN LANDSCAPE WITH SUCCEEDING RICHNESS IN BEAUTY AND NOURISHMENT COMPARABLE TO ITS PRE-COLONIAL CONDITION IN BIODIVERSITY AND MATURITY MEASURED BY THE EVC BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT TOOL. 

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TCC PROPOSES THE STRATEGIC ADDITION OF COMMERCIAL WOODLANDS TO BOTH PRIVATE AND MUNICIPAL LAND WITH THE PRIORITY OF PLANTING ALONG WATER BODIES TO SEED BIO-DIVERSE HABITAT CORRIDORS WHILE EMPLOYING COPPICING AS THE MAIN LOGGING TECHNIQUE TO ENCOURAGE ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION YIELDING LONG-TERM FINANCIAL RETURN WITH SUSTAINED REDUCTION OF MARGINAL COST OVER THE PERIOD OF THE COMING CENTURIES. 

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FURTHER RESEARCH ON THE PROPOSED METHOD COULD PROVIDE POTENTIAL VALUABLE INSIGHT TO INFORM ALTERNATIVE STREET TREE PLANTING AND MANAGEMENT MODELS IN THE FUTURE I.E.TREES CAN BE PLANTED WITH HIGHER DENSITY AND THINNING/ HARVESTING FREQUENCY REGIME. 

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GREENING THE WEST WAS LED BY JOCK GILBERT AT RMIT IN 2018.