White Street is going green but council decision has some locals seeing red

"It's the first CBD planting we've had on any large scale since the 90's, so it is a major step forward," councillor Helen Tickle said as the last tree went in.

Cr Tickle, who chairs the council's Urban Street Tree Advisory Committee, says the local government has planted nearly 30,000 native trees across the region in the last four years.

But the new trees on White Street are not natives.

Council chose Desert Ash trees, which are classified as an environmental weed in Victoria, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and southern NSW.

"Desert Ashes are a very tough tree and they've done very well around our area. The species outside the entrance to the shopping centre in White Street is a Desert Ash, so it was chosen because we know they're a proven species. They're tough and they don't mind the heat," Cr Tickle said.

The tree species has been known to cause problems in some of Victoria's national parks where it out-competes native plants for sunlight, moisture, and nutrients.

Cr Tickle says the Ash's relentless propensity for dispersing seeds won't be a problem for Tamworth.

"They aren't classified as invasive in [northern] NSW. We have many of them in our area and they haven't been invasive. It's not a problem for our area," she said.

Another concern among locals is the loss of 12 car parking spaces along the busy road.

Cr Tickle said the loss of car parking will be worth the trade-off, especially in summer when shade from the trees will help mitigate the heat.

"It makes it more attractive for people to come and shop and it's far more pleasant in our hot summers to have some greenery and shade," she said.

"I can understand if people are worried about losing car spaces, however I want to assure people there are plenty of car spaces currently within walking distance of our shops."

Council is also using specialised tree vaults to preempt any issues of roots damaging underground infrastructure.

"The vault system is surrounded by a root barrier which stops them from getting out into the surrounding services or foundation for businesses or cracking the road," council project engineer Lachlan Mackiewicz said.

The next project for council is installing six more tree vaults on Brisbane Street, which will house Aristrocrat Ornamental Pears, another non-native tree species.

Work on the second project began on Monday.

Both tree-planting projects were made possible through $500,000 in grant funding from the Australian Government.