State of Environment Report 2007-08 - Wollongong City Council

Sustainability | State of the Environment Report 2007-2008SustainabilitySustainabilityA major focus of sustainability is to minimise resourceconsumption, including energy, water, land, biological and mineraldependency and their associated environmental damage.Although Council is currently achieving a variety of sustainabilityoutcomes, a greater level of coordination is required to ensure amore streamlined, cohesive and efficient approach. Sustainability,like any initiative, needs a quality framework and risk managementapproach to consistently implement Council’s mission, values andprinciples.Council has been investigating the concept of the triple bottom line,which involves separating the complexities of life into three areasTable 6 Council Sustainability Performance IndicatorsCOUNCILIndicator 2001-02 2006-07 2007-08Revenue Rates andannual charges(% of totalincome)$82,370,000(60.1%)Rates andannual charges(% of totalincome)$107,285,000(62.1%)Rates andannual charges(% of totalincome)$116,231,000(65.4%)Total Incomefrom continuingoperations$137,130,000Total Incomefrom continuingoperations$172,649,000Total Incomefrom continuingoperations$177,723,000Water use (kL) 424,869+# 331,141# 349,030 *HUMAN CAPITALLTIFR 34.5 24.3 24.5Councilvolunteers(TosserSquad)21 52 52NATURAL CAPITALNatural arearestorationBotanicGarden plantdistributionStormwaterreuse (kL)0^ No. of sites - 49No. of nativesplanted - 20,637m 2 weeded- 153,884No. of sites - 49No. of nativesplanted -14,594m 2 weeded-180,91345,900 56,206 65,9870^ ~35,000 ~35,000Legend: + These figures do not include the water consumption from the WollongongSurf Leisure Resort, as the premises are not operated by Wollongong City Council;# This data is sourced from Sydney Water Corporation; ^ no restoration orstormwater reuse projects were completed prior to 2002-03; LTIFR - lost time injuryfrequency rate i.e. number of lost-time injuries per million hours worked;kL - kilolitres; m 2 - square metres.which form the foundation of our society -environment, society and economy. Anotherway of considering these three areas is toseparate them based on the resource‘capital’ - built, human and natural.Indicators have been chosen to assist inassessing where Council as anorganisation, and the community, areheaded in terms of sustainability.For the Council indicators, the most positiveresults occur in the natural capital sector(Table 6). The number of natural arearestoration projects has increased since2001-02 due to funding from theEnvironment Fund and additional fundingfrom external grants. Wollongong BotanicGarden plant distribution has increasedsignificantly (over 43 percent) since 2001-02to provide for increased Greenplan sales,increased plantings at Bushcare sites andadditional natural area restoration projects.Community Indicators showed positivetrends across the built, human and naturalcapital sectors (Table 7). Waterconsumption has continued to decrease,bushcare volunteer hours increased, as didthe number of plants purchased by thecommunity as part of Greenplan andnumbers of native plants installed bybushcare. The amount of waste to landfillincreased slightly during 2007-08, but stillremained considerably lower than during2001-02.Sustainable IllawarraDuring 2007-08, substantial planning anddesign of the regional three yearSustainable Illawarra project wasundertaken, culminating in a June 2008public launch which included a six monthrolling program of activities, corporatepartners, a regional ‘super challenge’ forresidents and an interactive website. TheIllawarra Sustainability Roadmap, whichprovides a sustainability planning andreporting framework, was adopted byKiama, Shellharbour and Wollongongcouncils in May 2008. The second stage ofthe project is the Sustainability Action Plan.This will outline specific strategies andactions to be considered as part of eachcouncil’s planning and reporting processesand operations over the next five years. Thisplan is currently being developed andshould be completed by December 2008.Sustainability in the WorkplaceThe Sustainability in the Workplaceprogram aims to improve theenvironmental, social and economic18 Wollongong City Council