Road reserves

The total canopy cover area (235 ha) as a proportion of total Road Reserve land use area is 11.8%.

The majority of Road Reserve area (58%) is made up of non-vegetated surfaces, namely roads and footpaths. Vegetation of less than 3m in height (including grass) makes up 30% of the Road Reserve area.

Suburbs containing a high proportion of canopy cover on the road reserve include Kapooka, Hillgrove, San Isidore, Moorong, and Gobbagombalin. This is due to larger more established trees remaining in the sparser areas which have not been cleared for utilities and development. Older more established urban areas such as Lake Albert, Turvey Park, Central Wagga Wagga and Kooringal have higher than average canopy cover due to most trees being at full maturity. Lower rates of road reserve canopy cover were found in suburbs containing new subdivisions such as Lloyd and Boorooma, as well as parts of Bourkelands and Tatton. Road reserves in Industrial areas such as East Wagga Wagga and Bomen were also below average. Figure 10 shows a breakdown of Road Reserve land use area and canopy by suburb.

Figure 10: Canopy cover as a proportion of Road Reserve land use area. Total canopy cover over total road Reserve land use area is 11.8%