Urban Sustainability Program
Introduction
The NSW City and Country Environment Restoration Program was announced by Premier Iemma in November 2005. It provides funding of $439 million to be spent over five years, which will allow us to tackle our most significant environmental challenges. Under this program, we will work towards restoring our iconic wetlands ... protecting our marine environment ... securing the high conservation values of our crown lands ... and reducing the ecological footprint of our urban centres. This new program will also send a strong economic signal about the importance of avoiding the creation of waste and the need to recover, reuse and recycle our valuable resources.
Environmental restoration is most successful when communities, industry and government work together. Over the next five years, the City and Country Environment Restoration Program will make $80 million in new grants available to fund local environment programs. Projects will support stormwater harvesting and its reuse, waste recycling and avoidance, and campaigns to prevent litter and illegal dumping, as well as initiatives to restore local waterways and urban bushland.
The Urban Sustainability Program will allow the Environmental Trust to continue to work in partnership with local councils, to help the people of NSW to protect and restore the environment.
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The Urban Sustainability Program
Local government, in partnership with key stakeholders, has achieved significant local environmental gains. The Urban Sustainability Program provides exciting opportunities to continue the progress already made through communities, businesses and government working together.
The Urban Sustainability Program aims to improve:
- urban water management, focusing on stormwater and urban runoff, to achieve sustainable water quality and conservation outcomes
- resource conservation through effective waste management, avoidance, reuse and recycling; and support for sustainable products and services
- urban bushland and creeks, providing opportunities for urban wildlife to flourish and improving habitats for rare and endangered flora and fauna
- the quality of the local urban environment, through integrated approaches that resolve air quality, noise, odour, chemical use, biodiversity, litter and dumping issues
- the performance of local councils, businesses, community organisations and householders in urban areas regarding sustainability issues.
Under the Urban Sustainability Program, councils or alliances of councils may apply to the Trust for:
- Urban Sustainability Seed Funding
- Urban Sustainability Major Projects Grants
- Urban Waterways Initiative.
Urban Sustainability Seed Funding
The Environmental Trust will provide seed funding to help local councils develop local sustainability plans in partnership with their local community. The funding will allow councils that have not previously developed sustainability plans to initiate plans to guide the development of future major urban sustainability projects. The seed funding will also allow councils to work together to develop plans that tackle common issues across local boundaries.
The Trust will consider applications for seed funding to develop a sustainability plan by:
- individual councils - up to $20,000
- alliances of councils - up to $50,000.
Seed funding is available for projects of one year's duration.
Urban Sustainability Major Projects Grants
These grants are for urban sustainability projects that will resolve various environmental issues and will deliver sustainable environmental, social and economic outcomes.
The Trust will consider applications for Major Project grants by:
- individual councils - between $100,000 and $250,000 in total
- alliances of councils - between $100,000 and $2 million in total.
Urban Waterways Initiative
These grants provide funding for projects addressing sustainability challenges within Urban Waterways. Priority Catchments include Cooks, Georges, Hawkesbury Nepean, Central Coast / Lower Hunter and Sydney Harbour Catchments.
The Trust will consider applications for Urban Waterways Initiative grants by:
- individual councils - between $100,000 and $250,000 in total
- alliances of councils - between $100,000 and $2 million in total.
Allocation of Funding
Funding will be allocated to projects that:
- effectively develop partnerships between councils, other government agencies, local businesses, community organisations and householders
- clearly focus on environmental priorities identified in local State of the Environment reports and local sustainability plans
- are developed in cooperation with local catchment management authorities (CMAs)
- complement other funding sources and local council investments, such as rate revenue, loans, other grants, sponsorships or when a council uses new powers in the Local Government Act to generate funding for stormwater projects, existing environment levies or waste service performance improvement payments.
Case study
A regional organisation of councils, in collaboration with the local CMA, Chamber of Commerce and the local bushcare network, decided to develop and implement projects addressing urban environmental issues. Previous studies and results from the regional State of the Environment report had identified the need for improvement in urban water and bushland management. A sustainability plan generated by the group also highlighted the necessity for a program addressing general environmental issues at a neighbourhood level.
Given the multicultural nature of their region, the project partners recognised the benefits of using an approach to the project that involved all community members. The sustainability plan also identified the need to organise activities that engage the community as a way of maximising the benefits of the project.
This project aimed to not only improve the way that government managed the local environment but to also equip the community with skills to address urban water and biodiversity issues at the household or business level and therefore be effective partners in achieving the sustainability outcomes of the project. Targets for the project were identified in the regional sustainability plan.
Urban Water and Bushland Management Sustainability Project
The regional organisation of councils and its partners initiated a project to develop and implement an urban water and bushland management plan for their subcatchment. The project involved:
- identifying urban water and bushland issues across the urban landscape
- using workshops to develop a clear picture of community expectations for their urban waterways and bushland areas
- identifying gaps in knowledge, skills and resources that may have prevented the development of an effective plan, and developing actions to address these gaps
- identifying innovative solutions to improve urban water and bushland quality
- setting priorities for works and identifying costs and funding sources.
Specific actions included:
councils implementing a program to improve urban water management by:
- installing rainwater tanks on all public buildings and using the water for irrigation and toilet flushing
- improving how well building sites implemented sediment control
- introducing street and gutter sweeping
- improving the management of council depot sites
- working with local bushcare volunteers, and employing professional bush regenerators to restore creek and riverside vegetation
- improving conditions for fish populations in local waterways by removing litter from blocked streams
- using treated stormwater to irrigate public sports fields and public and private gardens, and for non-drinking water uses
implementing local programs for school students and others in the community to be involved in environmental sustainability activities, including:
- school students conducting a water and bushland audit at their schools and at home
- local businesses taking action to stop pollution of urban waterways, participating in bushland regeneration projects, offering in-kind services to community groups and reducing resource use
the community undertaking a range of actions, such as:
- planting of local native species in household gardens
- conserving water through reducing water use within the home
- utilising captured rainwater to irrigate gardens
- reducing pesticide, herbicide and fertiliser use around the home
- working with local community leaders to help them encourage discussion and action on improving urban water and bushland management within the various groups in their community
- volunteering in the bushcare program and organising large community environmental events such as National Tree Day and World Environment Day.
Some of the outcomes of this project included:
- formation of a regional environment network, with the councils, community, other government agencies and businesses working together to monitor the project and to identify new actions and activities for the future
- improvement in biodiversity quality in the region, with thousands of locally native plants being planted in home gardens, streets and parks, and on industrial sites
improved water quality, with:
- fewer accidental pollution incidents from industrial sites
- better management of sediment on building sites
- reduced fertiliser use in home gardens
- more regular maintenance of stormwater devices by the councils
- commitment from all project partners to maintaining and building on positive environmental outcomes resulting from this project.
More information
For more information about the Urban Sustainability Program, see guidelines, application forms and closing dates for applications on the Environmental Trust website.