North is Up Autumn 2012 - City of Playford - SA.Gov.au

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NEWS IN BRIEF IMAGINE... Your Playford Council is about to commence the review of the Playford Community Plan, a long term vision that paints a picture of where you see Playford in 30 years – what it will look like and feel like to experience life here. The plan will identify those key things that Council and others will focus on and work towards to achieve the vision. It will also include a set of community indicators which will help Council and others to measure how we are all progressing. To develop the plan, Council needs you to get on board and be involved in developing the long term vision for Playford. You, your family, friends and neighbours will be the ones experiencing the future and should help shape the vision of what you want Playford to be. There will be many different ways to get involved from late March through to May. All you need to do at this stage is register your interest by calling us on 8256 0333 or email us at playford@playford.sa.gov.au Remember, it’s Your Future; it’s Your Playford. Lost dog? Council’s website now includes an up to date register of dogs that have been impounded in the City in the last 7-10 days. The register includes information on the breed, colour and sex of the dog and a photograph. Dogs found wandering and not under effective control of its owner are impounded both for the benefit of the dog and the safety of the general public. They are held at Council for a maximum of 72 hours and then transferred to the Animal Welfare League Shelter. If you have lost your dog, please check the impounded dog register at www.playford.sa.gov. au and then call the City of Playford on 8256 0333 (24 hours) or the Animal Welfare League on 8252 1999. Did you know that the City of Playford bylaw limits the ownership of dogs to two? Therefore if you own more than this number you need to contact Council to obtain the relevant permits. Further information on this and other dog and cat management advice can also be found on Council’s website. Monitoring our carbon footprint Council is committed to operating in an environmentally responsible and sound manner and for the first time it’s 2010/11 Annual Report included a section on greenhouse gas emissions. This is the start of a process that will allow us to track our progress towards minimising environmental impacts and becoming more energy and resource efficient. Under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Scheme our annual emission for 2010/11 was 2,845.42 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents, which translates to an average of 36kg per resident. The scheme reports on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions – the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as a direct result of an activity at a facility (Scope 1) and the release of gases as a direct result of activities that generate electricity, heating or cooling that is consumed by, but does not form part of, the facility (Scope 2). There has been an increase in energy consumption over the last four years; however this is consistent with the corresponding increase in population growth within the City. For further updates on Council’s environmental performance please visit www.playford.sa.gov.au Efficiency and Effectiveness Update The City of Playford is a progressive and forward thinking Council, with an ongoing commitment to deliver the best value and outcomes to benefit the Playford community. To this end, we continually review how we can improve our key services, streamline our service delivery, provide new initiatives and become more efficient and effective as an organisation. Following the high level review of our operations, and testing of the cost reduction assumptions put forward in the 2010/11 Long Term Financial Plan, we have identified some opportunities to enable Council to deliver future services to the community in the best possible way. A five year strategy, plan and timeframe has been developed that will enable us to achieve an operating cost reduction of 9% by 2015/16. An organisational restructure is currently taking place, and will provide the platform for our Efficiency and Effectiveness program, enabling better work flows and delivery of services. All General Manager and the Chief Financial Officer roles have now been filled, and Manager’s positions and departments are being realigned to transition to the new structure in preparation for the new financial year. A key element of the strategy is improving procedures and systems for better responses to community issues. The ‘Draft Customer Experience Charter: Our Promise to You’ has been developed with our community in mind, and in March focus groups and invitations for feedback will be conducted through the media and on the website. Furthermore, the software systems for Council’s financial and operational information are being integrated to enable additional functionality and better control of asset management, staff resourcing, customer request workflow and materials supply and costs. This ongoing Efficiency and Effectiveness program will provide real savings and efficiencies that will benefit the Playford community through the introduction of new or enhanced services, holding down rate increases and reducing our debt. 4 C i t y o f P l a y f o r d C u s t o m e r S e r v i c e i s t h e r e f o r y o u P h : 8 2 5 6 0 3 3 3
A growing demand for healthy food choices For mother of two Julie-Anne Locke, having her children suddenly become keen vegetable gardeners has been a pleasant surprise and has resulted in more cooking being done at home. “I’m having to learn to cook all sorts of new dishes.” she admits with a laugh Josh, who’s just started primary school, and his older sister Alana so far have managed to grow lettuces, strawberries and spring onions in the OPAL and Playford Council-supplied raised garden box – along with soil, mulch and garden tools - in their front yard. But basil, tomatoes and capsicum are on the way and Josh and Alana battle over whose turn it is with the watering can. “They both really enjoy growing the veggies,” says Julie-Anne, “and it’s been so easy to do. The lettuces really took off and it seemed we were almost guaranteed to succeed. It was our first attempt at growing anything other than weeds. “I’d really encourage other parents to do the same and to get their kids involved. It makes them much more aware of what they’re eating – mine now keep asking ‘is that healthy food’?” Julie-Anne’s is one of 40 participants that are now growing their own vegetables in the project being run by OPAL and the Street Wise Project in Davoren Park, Smithfield Plains and Munno Para. The initiative provides families with information and resources to set up a vegetable garden in their own backyards, with participants invited to join in sessions covering topics such as basic gardening, water wise tips, composting and cooking their produce. ”This is a great new initiative of OPAL to support families to eat well,” says City of Playford Mayor, Glenn Docherty. “There has been an impressive response from the community and we are excited to provide children in our community with an opportunity to experience growing their own produce.” It may not be a path that every parent is able to take, but there is an alternative route to healthy food and it’s one that’s been taken by the IGA store at Davoren Park, supported again by Council’s OPAL program. The IGA store was taken over by new managers about 12 months ago who were keen to make some changes. Previously, healthy food options at the store were limited. Meat choices were limited to mostly sausages and mince. Fruit and vegetables were restricted to a single table in the middle of an aisle. Now, new refrigeration units have been installed. A selection of healthy meat (chicken breasts, lean cuts of beef, etc) and an array of fresh and well-presented fruit and vegetable choices are on show in new display units. “We have made many changes in store to ensure that we have a better range of food choices available to the community,” says store manager Patrick Ryan. “It has been great to have OPAL supporting us in making these changes.” The changes have paid off in increased turnover, proving there is a great untapped demand for healthy food choices. Meat sales IGA store manager Patrick Ryan showing off an array of healthy food options available at the Davoren Park store. that staggered along at around $400 a week have soared to $3,000 a week with the new, healthier cuts. With the greater range and more appealing fresh produce, fruit and veg sales have gone from $500 a week to $2,200, while water sales have gone from zero to 20 cartons of water per month – helping to replace unhealthy sugary fizzy drinks. Patrick says the next stage will see in-supermarket cooking demonstrations and tastings, recipe cards and food packs made up by the Playford Food Co-op. The changes link closely with the promotion of OPAL’s third theme, ‘Make it a Fresh snack’ which encourages children, families and young people to make fresh, unpackaged snack food choices like fresh fruit, vegetables, lean meat, wholegrain breads and cereals and reduced fat dairy products. “This is a great example of OPAL and the City of Playford working in partnership with local businesses to improve access to quality and affordable food choices for our community,” says Mayor Docherty. The OPAL program is a joint initiative between the City of Playford and the State and Federal Governments to encourage children and families to eat well and be active. The City of Playford has recently been successful in obtaining additional funding to expand the reach of the OPAL catchment to cover the suburbs of Elizabeth, Elizabeth Downs, Elizabeth Park, Elizabeth East, Elizabeth South, Elizabeth Grove and Elizabeth Vale - and an additional 26,000 residents. OPAL has recently commenced its new theme, ‘Think Feet First. Step, Cycle, Scoot to school’. The theme will focus on encouraging children, young people and parents to consider not using the car for all or part of the journey to school. For more information about this theme and the OPAL program visit www.playford.sa.gov.au. N o r t h i s U p w w w. p l a y f o r d . s a . g o v. a u 5
Page 1 and 2: Playford’s Community Newsletter A
Page 3: CONTENTS MESSAGE FROM YOUR MAYOR PA
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Page 9 and 10: Australia Day award winners The Cit
Page 11 and 12: People with a passion Colleen pushe

North is Up Autumn 2012 - City of Playford - SA.Gov.au

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