Blacktown City Council has been judged the most environmentally sustainable metropolitan council in NSW.
It has won the prestigious Keep NSW Beautiful Blue Star Sustainability Award, which acknowledges the council’s achievements across the spectrum of environmental, social and economic factors.
“This is not an award for Council, it is an award for the Blacktown community,” the Mayor of Blacktown City, Councillor Stephen Bali said.
“Winning the NSW award is a real achievement for our city: it recognises our civic pride, community spirit and what we are doing to future-proof our city,” he said.
Keep NSW Beautiful also presented Blacktown City Council with the Waste Less, Recycle More award and the Council was highly commended in the Hey Tosser! Litter Action award.
In addition, Dharma Karta – a local community organisation – was highly commended in the Going Green Education category. Dharma Karta works in partnership on a program with Council to educate migrant communities about living sustainably.
“Council’s wide range of sustainability initiatives went under the microscope and came out on top,” Mayor Bali said.
“They include community action and partnerships, youth programs, energy innovation programs, water conservation, environmental protection, heritage and culture, resource recovery, waste management and litter prevention.”
This was backed up by the award judges.
“Blacktown City Council is a very active council, providing support and services to the Blacktown community, which are often unknown in other local government areas,” said Syd Smith, Blue Star Metropolitan Awards judge.
“They are provided with additional services and encouraged to participate in a variety of programs – as active providers of ideas, taking on voluntary action or as learners in education programs provided by council staff.”
Mayor Bali said, “We are not only one of the largest councils in NSW, with one of the most diverse communities, but we are now recognised as among the best.
“We have an incredibly engaged community that is passionate and proud about their neighbourhoods and we have shown that, by working together and learning from each other, we can create a sustainable environment,” he said.
Mayor Bali congratulated Council’s staff, saying their passion for the environment and building the best has been rightly recognised as the best in the state.
“Council’s environment team members are innovative and work hard behind the scenes to make sure every resident and rate payer is getting the best bang for their buck,” he said.
“From award-winning community hubs, to saving millions of litres of water, to doing all we can to protect our very own critically endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland, we are the best.
“This shows a clever council values clean and healthy local places, and knows that by turning sustainability awareness into action we all win,” he said.