Darling Downs Environment Council

Media Release

Tuesday the 1st of October

Contact: Ahri Tallon
Phone:0453 619454
Email: [email protected]

Keep Toowoomba Cool Campaign Launched to Advocate for Localised Canopy Cover Goals

Toowoomba – The Keep Toowoomba Cool Campaign officially launched today, bringing together local and international experts to address how we can make our neighborhoods more resilient to the growing threat of heat waves. The campaign aims to protect Toowoomba's existing tree canopy and advocate for Toowoomba Regional Council to set ambitious, time-bound goals to ensure all of the regions suburbs and towns benefit from cooling canopy with the right trees in the right places. 

What: Launch of the Keep Toowoomba Cool Campaign
When: Thursday the 3rd of October 6pm-8pm. Interviews available from 5.30pm.
Where: Toowoomba City Library
Who: Hosted by Darling Downs Environment Council

Speakers: 

Professor Catherine Pickering from Griffith University, a leading expert in urban ecology and climate change, presented the latest evidence on how tree canopies and green spaces are essential for combating rising temperatures. She emphasized the importance of biodiversity and well-planned urban environments in creating cooling corridors across the city.

Luke Reade from Energetic Communities spoke about practical solutions for making homes more liveable, particularly for renters and low-income households. She outlined steps that can be taken to improve energy efficiency and urban design to cool down our suburbs.

Professor Melissa Haswell from Queensland University of Technology highlighted the health impacts of climate change, noting how rising temperatures disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. She also stressed the need for sustainable urban planning to address environmental health issues.

Elizabeth Reade, former TRC Environmental Planner, explains how the Toowoomba Regional Council effort to strengthen protections for ares of ecological significance under the recently passed Temporary Local Planning Instrument (TLPI) may achieve its goals. She emphasized the need to close loopholes in the planning codes to safeguard local ecosystems and protect the city’s green spaces from unchecked development if the TLPI is going to work.

The Keep Toowoomba Cool Campaign focuses on protecting the region’s existing trees while advocating for ambitious, localized canopy coverage goals. These goals aim to create interconnected cooling corridors in neighborhoods through the strategic planting of the right trees in the right places.

“For too long we have seen council avoid responsibility of ensuring new suburbs are planned with tree lined streets, we need council to step up to the mantle and set ambitious, localised and time bound tree canopy goals” Said DDEC Coordinator Ahri Tallon. 

The campaign also expressed disappointment at delays in the new planning scheme but emphasized that the Council can still act decisively by setting strong interim policies to increase tree canopy coverage.

“The delay in the planning scheme is frustrating, but Council can still lead by example. By setting ambitious policies now, we can ensure all of Toowoomba, including its often treeless new suburbs, can become more liveable, green, and cool,” said a Ahri Tallon. 

About the Campaign:
The Keep Toowoomba Cool Campaign is a community-led initiative aimed at protecting existing trees and increasing street tree canopy coverage to adapt to rising temperatures and enhance the local environment. The campaign works with local residents, environmental groups, and policymakers to create a cooler, more resilient future for Toowoomba.