Council is revolutionising urban parking by developing a green prototype carpark, making it the first of its kind in Cumberland.
Located within Holroyd Gardens in Merrylands, the Holroyd Gardens Carpark aims to transform a hot asphalt carpark into cool, cost-efficient and sustainable car spaces. The urban design includes a trellis system across 415 square metres of the western and southern sides of the carpark. These fast-growing vines will take around 12 months to grow and will provide shade for 31 car spaces. This will help reduce urban heating, improve local air quality and support birds and wildlife.
Mayor Lisa Lake said Council hopes to combat the challenges of urban heating and revolutionise the way cities approach parking infrastructure.
"According to research conducted by Western Sydney University, carparks across the Cumberland LGA collectively span nearly 1square kilometres of space. Most alarmingly, the research found that temperatures in these unshaded, asphalt carparks may exceed 50°C on hot summer days, posing a health risk to the community," said Mayor Lake.
As part of Council's commitment to creating a cooler urban environment, the green prototype carpark will help unlock planting potential and associated cooling benefits in conventional open-air carparks and spaces. The project also provides opportunities to demonstrate sustainable urban design and Council's practices in urban heat management and green infrastructure. This project is co-funded through the NSW Government's Greening Our City grant.
Council has also partnered with Western Sydney University to oversee the effectiveness of this new approach for urban heat management.
In addition to this project, Council has implemented a number of heat management strategies and projects including the Heat Smart Toolkit and Australia's first UV-smart cool playground in Merrylands.
Cumberland Council has also prepared planning controls for urban heat management as part of the Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan, and was recognised for this work with a commendation at the Planning Institute of Australia's NSW Industry Awards for Excellence in 2022.
Associate Professor in Urban Planning and Management at Western Sydney University, Dr Sebastian Pfautsch said improving the design of new and existing car parks is essential.
"Western Sydney is naturally hotter than the east and we have to take every chance we can to make our suburbs cooler, and this project hits the bullseye. This project will provide shading over a very hot carpark and the transpiration cooling from the vines will help lower the air temperature," said Dr Pfautsch.
For more information about Council's heat management strategies visit: https://www.cumberland.nsw.gov.au/heat-management
