Tree Inventory and Maintenance Plan

A team of two travelled the district during 2020 and 2021 using a mobile app to GPS the locations of street and park trees, complete a condition assessment and identify maintenance work required. Hazards were notified immediately to the client where urgent action was required to mitigate risk. A total of 5,555 data points were […]

Parks & Facilities Management

Xyst was brought on board after a thorough risk and performance evaluation of the Mackenzie District Council’s parks and community facilities operations. Xyst was then asked to fill a sudden staff management gap, which quickly evolved into a long-term commitment to manage the District’s public facilities, parks, and community spaces. Throughout this period, Xyst’s team […]

Tree Strategy

Port Pirie wishes to be a region that has pride in, and appreciates the values of its trees within public parks, streets and open spaces. It wishes to provide streets that are attractive and town centres which are visually appealing and inviting, to complement the network of parks and open spaces ranging from urban to […]

Manapouri Foreshore Vegetation Management Plan

Southland District Council (SDC) was undertaking a review of the Manapouri Foreshore Reserve Management Plan (2003) which provided for height management of vegetation on the reserve. Although some work on vegetation had been carried out, there had been little ongoing height management particularly in the areas identified as “retained/managed bush”. An itemised programme of works […]

Contract Performance Auditing

Nelson City Council engaged Xyst to carry out contract performance auditing. Xyst has developed an inspection template using a mobile app that allows performance against a set of performance measures from contract specifications to be scored from 1 to 5 and to produce an overall percentage score for each location. Activities audited include grass maintenance, […]

Waikato Tree Inventory data collection

Waikato District Council

Using a mobile data collection tool (GIS Cloud) Xyst collected data about the identity, age, condition, location and maintenance requirements of every Council tree in the Waikato District. Data (including images) is collected in the field and uploaded to a cloud-based database from where it can be exported in various formats for import directly into […]

Tree Contract Review Recommendations

Xyst was commissioned by Maroondah City Council to lead a workshop with relevant staff to assist in reviewing the current approach to outsourcing of arboriculture services for the following activities: collection of tree data, risk assessment and monitoring of physical works, street tree pruning and wire clearance works, supply and planting of street trees and […]

Urban Forest Policy

Xyst developed a Urban Forest Policy to provide guidance and direction in relation to the planting of new trees and promote planting, focussed on conserving a greener city. The policy also provided guidance and direction on continued maintenance, management and protection of trees. The policy aims to provide a basis from which to make decisions […]

Taitua Arboretum Development Plan

25 years on from the gifting of the Taitua Arboretum to the people of Hamilton City and 50 years on from the first tree plantings, the Arboretum’s landscape has changed significantly; the trees have matured, infrastructure has been developed and visitation has increased significantly. The intention was to take a fresh look at the Arboretum, […]

Contract Management and Contract Auditing

Xyst was engaged to manage the Amenity Tree Maintenance Contract and Open Space Maintenance contract for the City of Port Phillip from May 2023 through to March 2024. This included providing a dedicated contract manager working within the City of Port Phillip on placement. Particular emphasis was focused on improving contractor performance, systems improvement, reviewing […]

Charlotte Blakey

Charlotte Blakey

With over 15 years combined experience in natural resource management and arboriculture, I have been involved in a variety of projects within the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. This includes the development of asset management plans, program management and implementation, development of policies and procedures, provision of technical advice, collection and analysis of field data, […]

Trees

The management of trees and the urban forest is vital to mitigating the effects of climate change and to the health and wellbeing of communities