Annual Report 2008-2009 Woollahra Municipal Council Annexure 3 State of the Environment Report Woollahra State of the Environment Report 2008/2009 Version date: 30 November 2009 This report has been compiled by Justin Shupe, Sustainability Projects Officer, Woollahra Municipal Council. Council staff, Government agencies and members of the community are acknowledged for their invaluable contributions of information and assistance. Woollahra apologises for any errors or exclusions and welcomes comments for future State of the Environment Reports undertaken. The environmental indicator data included within in this report contains the most up-to-date result. Council is currently awaiting some data from external agencies and will update the report as soon as this information becomes available. Woollahra Municipal council 536 New South Head Road Double Bay NSW 2028 November 2009 Woollahra State of the Environment Report 2008/2009 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ...............................................................................................................................................3 1.1 What is state of the environment reporting?..........................................................................3 1.2 A guide to reading Woollahra’s State of the Environment....................................................4 2. Land and coastline ....................................................................................................................................5 2.1 State of the Land and Coastline.............................................................................................6 2.2 Pressures impacting on the Land and Coastline ..................................................................12 2.3 Responding to Land and Coastline Pressures......................................................................14 2.4 Future actions ......................................................................................................................19 3. Water........................................................................................................................................................20 3.1 State of water.......................................................................................................................20 3.2 Pressures impacting on water ..............................................................................................25 3.3 Responding to water pressures ............................................................................................25 3.4 Future actions ......................................................................................................................29 4. Biodiversity ..............................................................................................................................................30 4.1 State of biodiversity.............................................................................................................30 4.2 Pressures impacting biodiversity.........................................................................................38 4.3 Responding to biodiversity..................................................................................................39 4.4 Future actions ......................................................................................................................41 5. Air.............................................................................................................................................................42 5.1 State of air............................................................................................................................42 5.2 Pressures on the air..............................................................................................................47 5.3 Responding to air pressures.................................................................................................47 5.4 Future actions ......................................................................................................................53 6. Noise .........................................................................................................................................................54 6.1 State of noise .......................................................................................................................54 6.2 Pressures of noise ................................................................................................................55 6.3 Responding of noise pressures ............................................................................................55 6.4 Future actions ......................................................................................................................55 7. Waste ........................................................................................................................................................57 7.1 State of waste.......................................................................................................................57 7.2 Pressures on waste...............................................................................................................58 7.3 Responding to waste pressures............................................................................................58 7.4 Future actions ......................................................................................................................60 8. Heritage....................................................................................................................................................61 8.1 State of heritage...................................................................................................................61 8.2 Pressures on heritage ...........................................................................................................62 8.3 Responding to heritage pressures ........................................................................................63 8.4 Future actions ......................................................................................................................64 9. Sustainable Woollahra............................................................................................................................66 9.1 Community values...............................................................................................................66 9.2 Funding Sustainability.........................................................................................................66 9.3 Environmental Education ....................................................................................................68 9.4 Sustainable schools..............................................................................................................70 9.5 Future actions ......................................................................................................................74 10. References ................................................................................................................................................75 1 Woollahra State of the Environment Report 2008/2009 11. Appendix A - Some activities that may cause contamination..............................................................78 12. Appendix B - Flora and fauna lists ........................................................................................................79 2 Woollahra State of the Environment Report 2008/2009 1. Introduction 1.1 What is state of the environment reporting? State of the Environment (SoE) reporting is a statutory requirement under the Local Government Act 1993 (LG Act). Every council in New South Wales (NSW) is required to prepare a SoE report as a part of its annual reporting obligations. The SoE report provides information on the activities undertaken by council, State Authorities and the community to preserve and enhance the environment during the twelve month reporting period. The Local Government Act 1993 requires that a comprehensive SoE report is to be prepared the year following a full council election, with a supplementary report prepared for the years between. The 2008/2009 SoE report is a comprehensive report. Council’s last comprehensive SoE report was prepared for the 2003/2004 reporting period. Council’s next comprehensive report will be prepared in 2013 for the 2012/2013 reporting period. The Local Government (General) Regulation 1999 requires that comprehensive SoE reports are to: • include relevant background information • apply relevant environmental indicators • report on all major environmental impacts and related activities, and • identify data gaps and actions required to obtain that information. The response actions included in the past three supplementary reports have been incorporated into the 2008/2009 comprehensive report for each environmental sector. SoE reporting enables councils to report on the state of the environment in their local area and the progress of environmental activities undertaken during the reporting period. The report contains a number of outcomes, some of which are quantifiable and may be attributed to council’s activities over the reporting period. A summary of the outcomes for the 2008/2009 reporting period is presented in section 1.3 of this report. The outcomes are provided in greater detail in each chapter. Woollahra council is one of the many stakeholders involved in the management