This pledge matters because:

• Up to five years maintenance is required for establishing new trees.

• Dead trees are apparent everywhere. Maintenance, especially watering appears to be lacking.

• Standard trees are expensive, establishing them should take priority over numbers planted.

• Community “tree friends” models, used by other London boroughs can support this commitment.

• The lack of central survival tracking for trees is noteworthy: even city-wide programmes like the GLA’s tree initiatives do not routinely measure how many trees actually survive long-term. This is an opportunity for Greenwich to lead the way and begin tracking survival rates. It would also reassure the public that taxes are being spent wisely.