Hackney’s elected Mayor Jules Pipe’s pledge to plant more than 1,000 new street trees to help make a cleaner, greener borough has been fulfilled a year ahead of his manifesto target.

Mayor Jules Pipe, who promised to plant more than 1,000 new street trees in Hackney by 2010, paid a visit to Dynevor Road, N16, where the Council’s Arboricultural Team were planting 43 new street trees on the road. One of these was the 1000th new street tree in Hackney, achieving his pledge a year ahead of schedule.

To mark the momentous occasion, the Mayor was joined by Cllr Alan Laing, Hackney’s Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and the Stoke Newington Central ward councillors, Cllr Rita Krishna, Cllr Louisa Thomson and Cllr Muttalip Unluer, to meet some of the team working on the planting programme. The group also met with a number of local residents who had turned out to congratulate everyone involved in the tree planting programme, which has transformed the road where there were previously no street trees.

Mayor Jules Pipe said: “This is a great achievement that would not have been possible without the support of residents who have come forward with requests for new trees. I welcome the enthusiasm people have shown to the Council’s efforts to make Hackney a greener place. We are committed to investing in new street trees across the borough and will continue to plant many more. Thank you and well done to everyone involved in the programme.”

Ingrid Beattie, local resident and member of the Dynevor Road Tree Group, added: “We would like to thank the Council and Mayor Pipe for responding so promptly and positively to our request for trees to be planted on our road. The new trees are delightful and have transformed the road. We feel this is a wonderful example of Hackney Council and local residents working together to achieve a common goal.”

Special thanks were also given to local resident Nadine Cartner, who initiated and championed the planting programme for the benefit of the Dynevor Road residents.

The planting programme follows a consultation exercise to gauge whether fellow residents or businesses would wish to see trees planted in their areas.

During the current season (November 2008 to March 2009) the Arboricultural Team, part of the Council’s Streetscene Services, has been working towards achieving the Mayor’s target and over 180 different species of tree have been planted across the borough, which will make it as diverse as the people who live and work in Hackney.

The Council is not only committed to planting new trees but to ensuring that the young trees are maintained for future generations to come. To build on this we are seeking residents willing to act as “Tree Champions” for the areas in which they live, as well as community participation in aftercare of the young trees by watering and monitoring as “Tree Carers”.

Cllr Alan Laing said: “We hope residents will continue to be involved in this initiative and that we can recruit many new members to our Tree Carers’ scheme.”

The Council has already started to prepare its planting programme for the 2009/10 season. If anyone has a location or a whole road they would like to put forward for inclusion, or are interested in becoming a Tree Champion, contact Streetscene Services on 020 8356 3000 or email info@hackney.gov.uk