City of Trees commissioned to advise on campus landscaping

08 Aug 2017

The University has commissioned City of Trees to advise on its Campus Tree Planting Plan, which aims to replace and plant trees as part of the Campus Masterplan development

City of Trees aims to plant 3 million trees across Greater Manchester – one for every individual in the city region.  

The charitable organisation has significant experience of planting trees in urban areas and shares the University’s commitment to increase biodiversity and improve public realm areas.

Pete Stringer, Technical and GI Planning Manager at City of Trees commented: “City of Trees is really excited to be given the opportunity to work with The University of Manchester to deliver its Campus Tree Planting Plan. The trees proposed will provide a range of significant benefits, not just to students and staff, but also to the surrounding communities and visitors to Manchester.

“Trees are an essential part of the future of any town or city, and help to clean our air and reduce our vulnerability to climate change. We hope that the delivery of the Campus Tree Planting Plan will be an inspiration for further tree planting projects across Greater Manchester.”

The charity has also recently provided advice to the University for the re-planting of 20 trees, which currently occupy George Kenyon Square and are located adjacent to the Sir Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials.  These trees are being lifted, root-balled and replanted permanently in Whitworth Park, starting this week.

We have worked with City of Trees, Manchester City Council and Whitworth Art Gallery to identify the suitable locations for planting in and around the park and to develop specifications for the lifting and re-planting. Ecologists have monitored the trees over the last few weeks to ensure that no nesting sites are present. 

Essential building work and the construction of a new access road is set to start at the Sir Henry Royce Institute site with immediate effect, next to the Alan Turing Building. Access around the site will be limited over the next two weeks, as the trees are carefully removed and hoardings installed in front of the site.

Working with City of Trees, the University is planning a phased implementation of the Tree Plan over a period of 3 years. Some locations for new trees have already been identified; these will be verified to prove the technical feasibility of planting the trees.  

We will also be consulting with local communities to explore how we can enhance their green spaces with new tree planting and landscaping, in line with our Campus Masterplan goal to create a world-class urban campus at the heart of our city.