Public open space

Mapping and analysis

The total canopy cover area (299 ha) as a proportion of total Public Open Space (POS) land use area is 21.3%.

Suburbs with the highest rates of canopy cover in POS generally contain large areas of remnant and/or riparian vegetation in parkland and reserves. North Wagga Wagga, Central Wagga Wagga, Turvey Park, Lake Albert and Moorong contain higher than average canopy cover. Cartwright’s Hill (26.7%) contains a high level of canopy cover due to a small strip of remnant vegetation adjacent to the Olympic Highway. Wilks Park, Willans Hill, Victory Memorial Gardens, Collins Park, Botanical Gardens, Pomingalarna Reserve, and public reserves in and around Rawling’s Park and the Murrumbidgee River contribute to the high canopy rates in their corresponding suburbs. Suburbs with lower canopy cover rates are typically industrial areas containing little POS such as Bomen and East Wagga Wagga. Others contain new subdivisions with immature plantings such as Lloyd. Suburbs with large areas of sporting ovals will contain high proportions of turf but very little canopy cover such as Jubilee Park in Bourkelands and the Equex Centre in East Wagga Wagga. Figure 9 shows a breakdown of POS land use area and canopy cover by suburb.

Figure 9: Canopy cover as a proportion of POS land use area. Total canopy cover over total POS land use area is 21.3%