Blue Mountains City Council, New South Wales, is pursuing three new sustainability initiatives in order to achieve a more sustainable Blue Mountains, in line with its community-endorsed Community Strategic Plan.
Council has endorsed recommendations that:
- allow cost incentives in event charges for organisers who can show they have eliminated single use plastic from their event
- adopt five Cities Powers Partnership Pledges that complement Council’s Carbon Abatement Action Plan and
- investigate Council achieving Carbon Neutral Certification from the National Carbon Offset Standard.
Blue Mountains Mayor, Mark Greenhill, said, “These sustainability initiatives encourage responsible resource use by both Council and the community.
“As a City within a World Heritage National Park, we will continue to strive to minimise the impact of our urban footprint on the natural environment and be a model for sustainable living.”
For the remainder of the 2018/19 financial year, Council will discount all recycling bins requested for approved events by $20 per bin.
It is proposed that from the next financial year, event organisers who enter into an agreement to reduce single use plastics, will receive a 30 percent discount on clean up fees.
Blue Mountains City Council was among the first 100 Councils to sign up to the Cities Powers Partnership – a free, national program created by the Climate Council that is bringing together Australian towns and cities making the switch to clean energy.
Council will also investigate over the next 18 months how it can become a net zero carbon organisation, under the National Carbon Offset Standard.
