Our natural environment, including bushland, open spaces, the Swan Valley and the Swan River, is extremely important us.
We are working hard to achieve these goals through seven of our services: emergency management, natural area management, park and reserve maintenance, recycling centres, sustainable environment, waste collection and robust education.
Our community is happy with our progress, with 78 per cent of surveyed residents satisfied with our management of natural reserves.
To keep us on track and accountable to our goals, we have outlined our objectives in our Strategic Community Plan, and our natural environment focus areas in our Sustainable Environment Strategy.
The Natural Environment KRA covers three main outcomes:
- Protecting our natural ecosystems
- Minimising waste to landfill
- Protecting natural resources for future generations.
Protecting our natural ecosystems
We have been working diligently through a range of initiatives to reduce our impact on the environment, and with the help of our community, we have made significant headway.
We are lowering our greenhouse gas emissions, conserving water, increasing tree canopy and protecting biodiversity.
Trees
In 2022/23, we planted 364 trees across 53 parks and 1,821 street trees, including 839 along Hepburn Avenue, Ballajura.
Our Free Trees and Plants Giveaway was a hit with our community, with 660 rural residents and 1,500 urban residents taking up the offer.
Our environmentally conscious residents have formed 56 local Friends Groups. Between them, the groups volunteer over 4,500 hours each year, planting 14,818 seedlings in City reserves in 2023.
Water
The City has maintained a perfect score of 100 per cent two years running on its SERCUL Nutrient Management Scorecard. This means we have excelled in nutrient monitoring, management and education.
We have completed eight foreshore rehabilitation programs and continue to invest in our water quality, with inspections and feral fish removal research and planning.
- 1.5 per cent increase in our urban tree canopy in 2022/23 (up from one per cent in 2021/22)
- 1.6 per cent decrease in phosphorus in 2022/23
- Six per cent decrease in nitrogen in 2022/23.
In 2024, we are giving away 45,000 saplings this year to our urban and rural residents as part of our Free Trees and Plants Giveaway. We will also deliver a range of sustainability and environmental workshops as part of the WA Tree Festival to help educate our community on protecting our natural environment.
Minimising waste to landfill
The City aims to reduce our volume of waste through reduction, re-use and recycling waste products to ensure we provide the cleanest environment possible for our community and natural assets. We have outlined our goals in our Waste Management Plan, which lists education among staff and our community as one of the key actions in achieving our goals.
While we already have a range of programs in place to help our community and staff divert waste from landfill, 2024 will be a big step towards our goal of 60 per cent diversion by 2025.
This year, we start rolling out a three-bin kerbside collection system including a FOGO (food organics and garden organics) service, which will turn organic waste into compost or soil conditioner.
Our ultimate goal is 90 per cent diversion, which we can achieve once the East Rockingham Waste to Energy is completed at the end of 2025.
The City’s Bullsbrook and Malaga recycling centres and bulk verge collection program have been embraced by the community.
City staff are also on board, with many waste-reduction activities in place throughout the last three years which saw clothing materials re-used and recycled.
Recycling recovery
- 73.2 per cent from Recycling Centre – Bullsbrook
- 64.9 per cent from Recycling Centre – Malaga
- 42.4 per cent from bulk verge collections.
City staff initiatives
- 800kg of textiles diverted from landfill through staff clothes swaps
- 148kg of City uniforms
- 4.7 million containers through the Container Deposit Scheme.
84 per cent of residents are satisfied with our waste management, up from 77 per cent in 2020 and 2021.
We will continue to roll out FOGO bins throughout the City and landfill materials will be sent to the East Rockingham Waste to Energy from the end of 2025 to be turned into renewable energy.
Protecting natural resources for future generations
The City is one of the fastest growing local governments, with a population estimated to reach almost 300,000 by 2051. We have many actions in place now to ensure a sustainable natural environment so our future generations can thrive.
Water
We have gone to great lengths to reduce our water usage and our efforts have been recognised by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation.
The City is accredited as a Gold level Waterwise Council, all our leisure centres are Waterwise accredited, and we have made irrigation efficiency improvements at three of our ovals.
City carbon emissions
We are leading by example in the efficient use of energy, renewable energy and alternative modes of transport.
Our action plan aims to reduce and/or offset emissions to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
To help us achieve this, we committed to buying 100 per cent of contestable energy from renewable energy sources in 2022. We have also increased the number of hybrid vehicles in our fleet and started replacing our street lights with LEDs.
Risk reduction
By reducing bushfire risk, we can protect our community and our natural environment.
We work hard to do this through our firebreak and risk reduction efforts, private property inspections, enforcement of fire reduction notices, risk management plans for major reserves and more.
- 80 per cent of our water allocation used in 2022/23
- 20899tCO2e achieved to date
We will reduce our water intensity in our parks to reduce our water usage even further, continue to replace our street and park lights with LED bulbs, and continue our firebreak and risk reduction efforts.
We are also investigating the electrical capacity of potential City owned sites for EV charging infrastructure and preparing for a funding application to the Commonwealth Community Energy Fund.
