Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2012-2022
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Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2012-2022 Contents Our Our Mission 2 Mission Our Vision for Sustainability 3 A Sustainable City 4 What? To become a sustainable Our Environment 5 City and measure our progress Our Challenges 11 and success. Policy Context 15 Our Strategy 18 Why? The City of Whittlesea is Our Priority Areas 20 growing and using its resources Water 20 and natural assets at a rate and Land 24 in a way that is unsustainable. Climate Change 28 Protecting the environment Biodiversity 32 is one of the biggest concerns Urban Development and the Built Environment 38 identified by the community. Waste Management and Resource Recovery 42 Who? Council and the people Change Strategies 46 of the City of Whittlesea. Our Approach 49 Policy Directions, Strategies And Approaches 51 How? Through seven key Water 52 themes: Water, Land, Land 57 Climate Change, Biodiversity, Climate Change 65 Urban Development and Biodiversity 69 the Built Environment, Urban Development and Built Environment 76 Waste Management Waste Management and Resource Recovery 82 and Resource Recovery, Change Strategies 87 and Change Strategies. References 94 Environmental Sustainability is planning and providing for the needs of individuals and communities now and for future generations, creating resilient and prosperous communities and protecting the environment and ecosystem services.1 2 City of Whittlesea Our Vision for Sustainability To live sustainably in our urban and rural areas. To ensure our carbon footprint, water, waste, energy use, flora and fauna are managed sustainably so future generations can enjoy the environment in which we live. Immigration, strong housing demand, economic growth, climate change, alternative energies and transport all provide challenges for our environment, future planning and how we live. Our daily routines have changed; we plan for tomorrow and use innovation to become more sustainable. Everyone does their bit to help.2 Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2012-2022 3 A Sustainable City The City of Whittlesea is working towards becoming urban and rural assets, manage the urban-rural a sustainable city. Council recognises that we interface and revitalise our inner urban area to must protect and enhance our natural and built use our resources more efficiently and reduce our environments if we want a sustainable, productive everyday impact on the environment. and liveable future. Sustainability is a global challenge. Many countries Our municipality is fortunate to have a diverse range are tackling problems associated with increased of natural assets including rare native grasslands, resource use and greenhouse gas emissions, food local waterways and significant animal species like security, threatened biodiversity and climate change. the Growling Grass Frog. While we can think about these issues in the global Situated on the urban fringe we have the best of both sense, we must act locally. worlds – we have open space and a rural landscape, This strategy provides a direction for Council and yet we still enjoy access to the services and facilities the community about how to build environmental provided by a modern city. considerations into everything we do so we start But we cannot take our way of life for granted. living and working in a more sustainable way. Rapid population growth is placing pressure on our It identifies seven priority areas of action natural environment as well as our city. A growing including water, land, climate change, biodiversity, population is good for our local economy, but it also urban development and the built environment, poses challenges that have significant environmental waste management and resources recovery and impacts. The ongoing demand for housing, increased change strategies. resource use and waste production, puts enormous This strategy aims to make our city more pressure on our environment. environmentally sustainable to not only preserve Council is committed to making environmental our way of life but also ensure our natural assets sustainability a priority and must protect our diverse are available for future generations. 4 City of Whittlesea Our Environment Snapshot of the City of Whittlesea The rural areas of the north support various types of farming and grazing, along with rural living, The City of Whittlesea is located on Melbourne’s water catchments, extractive industry, tourism and metropolitan fringe, about 20km north of the CBD. recreation, conservation and interesting landscape. It is one of the largest local government areas This area, outside the Urban Growth Boundary, is in metropolitan Melbourne, covering an area of defined as the City of Whittlesea’s Green Wedge. approximately 490km2. The area supports both urban It consists of open space and rural land protected and rural land uses. Most residents live in the urban throughout the metropolitan area to act as the areas in the south, including Epping, Thomastown lungs of Melbourne. The rural communities of and Lalor. There is a mix of land uses in these suburbs, Eden Park, Humevale, Kinglake West, Whittlesea, Woodstock (part) and Yan Yean make up the 31,730 which includes houses and schools, businesses hectares of the City’s Green Wedge. Over half of and industry. As one of the fastest growing cities the City of Whittlesea is rural, and the majority in Melbourne, the Victorian Government has of rural properties are around five hectares in size. defined an Urban Growth Boundary for Whittlesea Agricultural uses include grazing and some dairy to accommodate its growing population (see farming, a growing equine industry, and some fruit Figure One). and vegetable production. Figure One City of Whittlesea N Suburbs Green Wedge Land Urban Growth Whittlesea Boundary Beveridge Humevale Eden Park Kinglake West Donnybrook Woodstock Yan Yean Wollert Mernda Doreen Whittlesea South Melbourne Epping Morang Lalor Mill Park Thomastown Bundoora City of Whittlesea • Scale at A4 - 1:222,000 0 5 10 kilometers Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2012-2022 5 A Fast Growing and Diverse Community In June 2011 163,539 people called the City of Whittlesea home. During 2010 and 2011 the City of Whittlesea grew by 8675 residents (a 5.6 per cent increase), the second largest annual growth for a Victorian municipality. It is estimated strong population growth will continue, with 220,000 residents expected by 2020 (see Figure Two). 3 Figure Two Estimated Population, City of Whittlesea (1971-2031) 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 projected 50,000 1 6 1 1 6 1 6 1 6 1 01 9 8 8 0 006 01 01 02 02 03 996 1 2 2 2 197 197 19 19 19 2 2 2 2 0 Year A Culturally and Linguistically A Wide Range of Age Groups Diverse Population Of residents, 10.6 per cent are 65 years and older Of respondents to the Annual Household Survey – a lower proportion of elderly than the rest 2011, just over 35 per cent were born overseas. of metropolitan Melbourne. However, this age Therefore, 23 per cent of survey respondents prefer group is continuing to increase substantially. to communicate in a language other than English. The Between 2001 and 2011 residents aged 65 years proportion of new arrivals from overseas with poor and older increased by more than 80 per cent. English language skills was higher than national and Of residents, 20.7 per cent are 15 years and under. state averages. Overseas-born residents were from This is a higher proportion of children than the more than 140 different countries – around 30 per rest of metropolitan Melbourne. cent of these where English is not the first language.4 The average household size has decreased from 3.3 persons per household in 1997 to 3.0 persons per household in 2011.5 6 City of Whittlesea The Landscape and Natural Environment of the City of Whittlesea The City of Whittlesea has many assets of local and The City of Whittlesea is also an area of high state environmental significance. The area features ecological diversity. To the west, the basalt plains a wide range of landforms including the Western area, known as the Western Basalt Plains, is within Basalt Plains, the Plenty Valley and the Plenty Ranges the Victorian Volcanic Plains bioregion. It features (see Figure Three). highly significant grasslands and grassy vegetation The prominent waterways and ranges of the City of classes such as Plains Grassy Woodland, Plains Whittlesea run in a strong north to south direction. Grassland and Plains Grassy Wetland Ecological The area ranges in elevation from Mt Disappointment Vegetation Classes. There are also iconic River in the far north at 792m above sea level, to the lower Red Gums between 200 and 500 years old in the southern areas at less than 40m above sea level. area. The vulnerable nature of these vegetation In the north the slopes and valleys of the Great communities means they are of high conservation Dividing Range support both cleared agricultural land value and are priority areas for protection. Finally, and forested areas like Kinglake National Park. These the Western Plains area supports rocky knolls – areas have high habitat value and are part of the Yan a significant ecological community consisting of Yean, Merri Creek and Plenty River catchments. low stony rises with high environmental value and which are rarely found elsewhere. Native vegetation in Victoria is classified according to Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVCs). Groups of EVCs can be identified into bioregions, which classify the environment at a landscape-scale by attributes such as climate, geomorphology, geology, soils and vegetation. Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2012-2022 7 Figure Three Key Landscape Features in the City of Whittlesea City of Whittlesea D ONNYBR HUME 8 Western Plains O FWY FWY HUME FWY OK RD C ME OOP RRIANG RD RD E R ST E P HIGH ST PING EPPING RD RD METROPOLITAN M CDONA W ALLAN LDS RD RD RING R D RD PLENTY RD Plenty Ranges PLENTY RD BEECH Plenty Valley ST YEA RD City of Whittlesea • Scale at A4 - 1:222,000 0 5 N 10 kilometers Over 40 species of native fauna are recognised as species of state significance.