The community has helped plant an estimated 2500 trees along one of Geelong’s scenic shared path corridors.

Volunteers helped green a section of the Ted Wilson Trail behind Haines Reserve in Hamlyn Heights at a community tree planting event on Sunday 31 July.

The 12-kilometre-long Ted Wilson Trail follows the alignment of the Geelong Ring Road from Corio through to Herne Hill.

Councillor Anthony Aitken Chair of the City Works Parks and Gardens portfolio said the event helped progress a long-running project called Greenway which is revegetating the trail with tens of thousands of trees and native grasses.

The Ted Wilson Trail is one of the key routes in our shared trails network which Council is upgrading and expanding at every opportunity. We are creating a larger and more diverse tree population which is cooling our public areas and improving the look and feel of the municipality.

Brownbill Ward Councillor Sarah Mansfield was among the many volunteers who got their hands dirty at the event.

We’ve planted tens of thousands of trees and plants along the Ted Wilson Trail in recent years and you can see the long-term greening program really taking shape. Events like National Tree Day are great at highlighting to younger people the value of direct action. They can plant trees in just one day but the rewards of returning to the site and seeing their positive impacts can last a lifetime.

The National Tree Day event was supported by the City of Greater Geelong’s National Landcare Program.

The City manages 106 670 street trees and 46 459 park trees as well as trees along rural roadways reserves waterways and bike trails.