Council introduced an Environmental Levy (EL) 11 years ago, to provide the funds needed to attract grants funding and to allow community groups to undertake a wide range of environmental restoration works.
“Since it began in 1998, the Levy has become a mainstay of local environmental programs,” said Stephen Sawtell, Council’s General Manager. “Through it, Council is able to carry out many important strategies, such as bushland regeneration, invasive weed control, habitat enhancement and vegetation mapping across the Local Government area.
“In addition, community environmental organisations and groups have access to funding for their own particular projects, such as restoration of the Orara River, wildlife rescue and vegetation regeneration.
“Education is also a winner as a number of schools have become involved in activities that help their local environment while their students learn. Everyone benefits – the local environmental groups and organisations have the funding they need to complete their projects and the broader community benefits from their efforts.”
In the 11 years that the EL funding program has been running, more than $11m of EL funds and grants have been put into activities that have helped protect and enhance our local environment.
“Those figures don’t include the hours put in by the volunteers working on EL projects, which are also a huge part of the end result,” Stephen Sawtell said.
