Australian Sustainable Cities winner for 2009

The City of Canada Bay, NSW, is the winner of the Overall Sustainable Council award, the top honour of the Keep Australia Beautiful Australian Sustainable Cities Awards, announced by the Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector, Senator The Hon Ursula Stephens, and the Keep Australia Beautiful National Chairman, Don Chambers, at Parliament House in Canberra last week.

The award recognises the City of Canada Bay for its proactive and innovative approach to sustainability and successfully engaging individuals, community groups, business and schools in a wide range of environmental projects and initiatives.

In addition to winning the overall title, the City of Canada Bay also picked up national awards for the Dame Phyllis Frost Litter Prevention; Water Conservation and Energy Innovation categories. The city also recently received international recognition at the UN-endorsed Liveable Communities Awards.

City of Canada Bay was congratulated by Senator Ursula Stephens for its work with community volunteers.

“Council’s Walk/Shop/Wheel program is a great initiative that has engaged the local community in actively reducing their eco-footprint. By distributing over 830 wheelie bags to those individuals who have committed to walking or riding to local shops, the program not only reduces carbon emissions, but encourages people to get fit at the same time.

“Providing residents with Powermates, on loan through local libraries, is another great way to build community awareness about the energy consumption of home appliances and of how this consumption can be minimised.”

According to the Australian Sustainable Cities' judge, Sean Rooney, who is also the Sustainability Program Manager at Sinclair Knight Merz, "Underpinning Canada Bay’s win was their comprehensive approach to creating a more sustainable city. They have successfully combined a strong vision, holistic and inclusive planning and effective on-ground actions to demonstrate real impact and results.”

The City of Canada Bay’s Water Savings Action Plan was developed with a potable water use reduction target of 40%, earning them the Water Conservation Award, sponsored by Grundfos Pumps.

Their success in this area is particularly evident in Cintra Hockey Park, which has recycled over 6.5 million litres of water in the past 18 months and the Powell Creek Reserve stormwater harvesting project, which saves 2 million litres of water per annum.

Grundfos Australia’s Marketing Manager, Tiffany Bermingham, said, “It’s fantastic to see city councils such as Canada Bay initiating proactive and innovative water conservation initiatives. We hope cities across Australia can take some inspiration from these initiatives to better manage their own water resources.”

To reduce energy use in Canada Bay, solar lighting is installed in parks and a lighting management system at 17 local sports fields reduces energy use by 15-20%. The Concord Library also has many energy-reduction features in place, including carbon-neutral carpet; natural ventilation incorporated into the air-conditioning system allows night purges and airflow reversal; solar panels to pre-heat water; T5 lamps; swipe card and movement-detector activated lighting.

The Australian Sustainable Cities Awards recognise efforts by residents, community groups, businesses and all levels of government to strive for a sustainable and litter-free environment. The awards are sponsored by the Packaging Stewardship Forum of the Australian Food and Grocery Council ‘Do the Right Thing’ program; Grundfos Pumps; Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM); and ToysRUs.

Further information about the Australian Sustainable Communities Awards can be found at www.kab.org.au.