State of Environment Report 2007-08 - Wollongong City Council

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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
Sustainability | State of the Environment Report 2007-2008Sustainabilityperformance of small to mediumenterprises and in doing so promote andcontribute to a sustainable future. Duringthe year, the INBusiness Energy Saversproject managed in conjunction withIntegral Energy was completed. The WaterEfficiency in Hospitality program isnearing completion, with the nineparticipating businesses having completedtheir action plans and implementingactions. The Saving Water in AsianRestaurants program has been verysuccessful, with 16 traditional wok stovesbeing replaced with waterless wok stovesat five restaurants in the LGA. On average,businesses reduced their waterconsumption by 86%, with two businessesreducing their consumption by 94%. Thisequates to a reduction in waterconsumption by 5,500kL annually andannual total cost savings of $14,330 for theparticipating businesses.The Sustainable Advantage program is aDepartment of Environment and ClimateChange initiative, managed by Council forWollongong businesses. The project aimsto reduce greenhouse gas emissions, savewater and energy and minimise waste.During the year, 12 businessesparticipated in resource efficiency, vision,commitment and planning modules andare demonstrating significant economic,environmental and social benefits.Business Treading Lightly ProgramThe Business Treading Lightly program ismanaged by the Southern Council’s Group.Wollongong City Council staff providesupport and advice as required. Theprogram was in the initial planning phaseduring 2007-08, with a specific focus onhospitality and aged care sectors acrossthe region to occur during 2008-09.Table 7 Community Sustainability Performance IndicatorsCOMMUNITYIndicator 2001-02 2006-07 2007-08Waste to landfill123,638 102,339 103,012(tonnes)Water use (kL) 21,522,130# 17,349,918# 16,591,599#HUMAN CAPITALBushcare volunteerhoursNumber of BushcaresitesNATURAL CAPITALNumber of plantspurchased by thecommunity as part ofcommunity GreenplanprogramNumber of nativesplanted (Bushcare)7,354 23,872 24,55836 50 5019,875 26,425 32,01316,919 26,668 28,335# This data is sourced from Sydney Water Corporation, kL - kilolitres.Table 8 Total water consumption in the Wollongong LGA by sector (kilolitres)DATE INDUSTRIAL I RESIDENTIAL R COMMERCIAL C OTHER USES # TOTALCONSUMPTION2004-05 2,100,833 12,792,751 1,801,268 2,377,771 19,072,6232005-06 2,060,463 12,775,579 1,744,195 2,114,011 18,694,2482006-07 2,155,372 12,321,808 1,860,505 1,044,196 17,349,1812007-08 1,791,555 11,911,289 1,896,246 992,509 16,591,599Information based on Sydney Water consumption records. Does not include tank water users.I Industrial includes industrial strata units and industrial premises.R Residential includes co-owned houses, dual occupancy, flats, and single dwellings.C Commercial includes clubs, commercial strata units, commercial premises, farms, hotels, market gardens, nurseries, orchards, poultry farms, andprimary producers.# Other Uses include baby health centres, cancelled ratings, church property, ratings, strata mixed developments, miscellaneous nonresidential,land, private hospitals, public cemeteries, public charities, public libraries, public reserves, residential/commercial mixeddevelopment, residential/industrial mixed development, standpipes, strata units, university/private school.Wollongong City Council 19
Page 2: Map of Wollongong City CouncilLocal
Page 8 and 9: Land (murum) | State of the Environ
Page 10: Water (naitnun) | State of the Envi
Page 14 and 15: Biodiversity (kembla) | State of th
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Page 18 and 19: Heritage | State of the Environment
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Page 24: The City of WollongongThe SOE Repor

State of Environment Report 2007-08 - Wollongong City Council

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