After a huge competition and months of judging, the City of Stirling in Western Australia has taken out the prestigious 2010 Keep Australia Beautiful Sustainable Cities Award.
Council beat contenders from all other States and Territories to take the top national honour in the major awards program, which recognises cities working to reduce the pressure on Australia’s environment.
The City of Stirling received its top honour from Federal Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Tony Burke at a ceremony in Sydney on 1 November.
Council is working to ‘future proof’ the area and is the first municipality in Western Australia to create a strategic response to the emerging global energy crisis.
The City has created a Million Trees initiative to see one million trees planted by the year 2020, while protecting existing vegetation. Stirling also has a strong focus on reducing its overall carbon footprint on Western Australia.
“Council clearly has a collaborative and consultative approach to dealing with sustainability challenges,” said Judge Sean Rooney. “It has a clear vision on what it wants to do to help the environment.
“Council is delivering outcomes, measuring performance and this year it was also recognised in two national category awards. It took out the Environmental Innovation and Protection Award and was Highly Commended in the Resource Recovery and Waste Management category. Its approach to environmental management is comprehensive and effective.”
Sean Rooney said particularly impressive were Stirling’s Million Trees initiative and its Water Smart Parks strategy, which reduces water use, power consumption and environmental impacts, and helps bushland and biodiversity.
“We were also deeply impressed with the Clubs Forever Go Green program, which helps local sports clubs and community organisations to carry out small, yet important environmental actions,” he said. “This involves helping them reduce the amount of water, energy and papers they are consuming, and 450 clubs and groups are now working on their day to day impact on the environment.
“The bottom line is that Council is about creating a bright future for people in the area and what was remarkable was realising this is a Council that makes it happen. It is achieving its vision in a huge way.”
Keep Australia Beautiful Executive Officer Scott Lyall said sustainability is a critical issue for all cities as the world becomes more and more urbanised.
“Cities make up just two per cent of the earth’s surface, but now actually account for 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.
Other award winners included:
- Heritage and Culture Award: Darwin City Council, NT
- Energy Innovation Award: Shire of Melton, Vic
- Community Action and
Partnerships Award: Redland
City Council, Qld - Resource Recovery and
Waste Management Award:
Hornsby Shire Council, NSW - Environmental Innovation
and Protection: City
of Clarence, Tas – Highly
Commended - Water Conservation
Award: City of Onkaparinga,
SA; Hornsby Shire
Council, NSW – Highly
Commended
