Theme 3: The environment

Actions we have delivered in the FY2021-22 include:

• holding a virtual launch event for the Climate Action Plan where we heard from some influential people working towards shaping a more sustainable future
• updating our Procurement Policy to place a greater emphasis on sustainability
• providing a program of advice and support for Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD) in private development
• helping residents and businesses access affordable, quality solar PV (photovoltaic) systems as part of a program developed by local government
• supporting our community to make their homes more sustainable and comfortable by providing quality home energy assessments
• delivering a sustainability leadership course, empowering community members to take environmental leadership action at a local level
• implementing revisions to other Council policies.

We will continue to deliver actions and periodically track progress against our climate action targets.

Theme 3 performance

Below is a breakdown of the strategic indicators, progress of initiatives and other service performance indicators for this theme. You can find out more detail about these indicators and previous year’s results in the full report.

You can also read through our continuous improvement initiatives, community engagement, and benchmarking activities for this theme in the full report.

Strategic indicators

In many cases, our strategic indicators saw either consistent or improved results in FY2021-22. The strategic indicators that met or exceeded forecast include the following.

One indicator did not meet our forecast this year, this was the volume of harvested water (rain and stormwater) re-used within council buildings and open space irrigation (5.6 ml). This reduced due to rainfall during the irrigation season being higher than recent periods, and the breakdown of some key facilities which are scheduled for reinstatement during 2022-23.

For the percentage reduction of community emissions compared with 2020 emissions we had a 10% forecast; however we were not able to gather this year’s data as there was a one-year lag in the data. This will be reported on next financial year.

Progress of initiatives in the Budget

All initiatives for this theme aside from one were completed in the FY2021-22. This includes:

• implementing the Biodiversity Asset Management Plan (BAMP) 2013-23
• implementing initiatives including the Backyard Biodiversity project, Wildlife not Weeds program, and rollout of interpretive signage
• using a minimum of 20% of recycled materials in our asphalt products to resurface roads
• reviewing our street sweeping service to provide a more flexible approach to street cleaning
• completing the implementation of the Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) service to Multi Unit developments.

The remaining initiative was to implement the FY2021-22 actions in our new Climate Action Plan to deliver a range of initiatives. This initiative is 85% complete, with the LED (Light-emitting diode) Lighting and Solar PV (photovoltaic) installations having proceeded during FY2021-22. Design work is underway for EV (electric vehicle) charging infrastructure and degasification. These projects will be completed in FY2022-23.

Other service performance indicators

The following other service performance indicators and measures are based on the FY2021-22, unless stated otherwise. You can find out more detail including how these indicator results were calculated in the full report.