We’re excited to share our Greater Sydney Harbour Coastal Management Program (GSHCMP) education video which highlights the need for a coordinated and dedicated approach to sustaining and improving catchment and waterway health for our iconic Harbour.
Click here to watch our video and find out more about the GSH CMP.
Stormwater NSW has released its Guidelines for Stormwater Treatment Maintenance. The Guidelines are aimed at assisting owners and operators of stormwater treatment infrastructure to inspect, identify issues, and identify maintenance responses.
Training on how to apply the Guidelines is also available! Visit the Stormwater NSW page to register your interest. Updated copies of the Guidelines will be circulated annually to those who participate in these training workshops.
LGNSW invites you to a two-day online conference from 7 October 2020 to 8 October 2020. The program has been slightly revamped to fit an online format, but all the highly anticipated speakers will remain the same with Q&A sessions.
The conference promises many interesting, educational, and informative presentations including Water Services Association of Australia, Sydney Water, DPIE, research associates and local council representatives as well as several panel discussions. View the full program here.
A joint collaborative initiative between the Sydney Institute of Marine Science and Macquarie and UNSW researchers appears promising in its aim to improve the ecological performance of seawalls and other marine build infrastructure. The Living Seawalls initiative partnered with Reef Design Lab, to develop habitat modules that can be attached to seawalls to increase habitat area and add missing microhabitats such as rockpools and crevices. So far in 2020, the team has installed new panels at several locations including Blues Point, Clontarf, Fairlight, and Rushcutters Bay complementing earlier installations at Milsons Point and McMahons Point.
The 2020 Greening our City grant program is now open!
This grant supports local councils and their partners to enhance urban tree canopy and green cover across Greater Sydney. Up to 12.5 million is available to fund new grants under two streams for tree planting projects and demonstration projects.
An information session is also being held on 22 July 2020 to provide details on eligibility and assessment criteria as well as provide guidance on how to use the online spatial tool. Click here to register.
See the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment page for further guidelines and supporting materials.
Please note that grant applications close on the 19 August 2020.
At the start of this month, the NSW Coastal Conference Organising Committee announced that this year’s conference would be postponed to 2021. However, the Committee is looking into an alternative option involving an online practitioner forum later this year with more details to come.
In the mean time, make sure to save the date of the NSW Coastal Conference in 2021!
3rd – 5th November 20201, Mantra on Salt Beach, Kingscliff. Co hosted by Byron Shire Council & Tweed Shire Council
Existing rules at Sydney’s aquatic reserves will continue as announced in the Aquatic Reserve Notification published in the Government Gazette of 17 April 2020. No changes have been made to the boundaries or rules of these aquatic reserves. The Aquatic Reserve Notification can be found here.
On 16 June, IPART released its Final Report on prices for Sydney Water services.
As was indicative in the draft IPART report and supported in the SCCG submission, $80M has been approved for Sydney Water in discretionary funding that comprises $62.7 for the wastewater treatment program at Diamond Bay and $22.4 for the Waterway Health Improvement Program (WHIP). The WHIP will deliver improved waterway health through stormwater management activities that will increase: the length of waterways in good health; areas of planted native vegetation; sets of recreation facilities; and the amount of rubbish and litter removed from Sydney waterways each year.
The final report on Sydney Water’s prices are available here.
The State’s first aquatic reserve is celebrating its 40th anniversary, as a pivotal resource for marine education for all!
NSW Department of Primary Industries Program Leader Marine Planning Rodney James said the Long Reef Aquatic Reserve, in Sydney’s northern beaches was declared in 1980, to protect rocky shore plants and animals (invertebrates and cunjevoi), after marine life became seriously depleted due to intensive collection for food and bait.
The area was protected for educational and scientific purposes, frequented by thousands of school children, university students and the public visiting the aquatic reserve each year to learn about intertidal animals and plants. It has also been a scientific research site for universities and the Australian Museum for over 70 years.
For more information on Long Reef Aquatic Reserve’s 40th birthday, or to see what you can do to get involved, visit Long Reef Aquatic Reserve celebrating 40 years.
SCCG Member Council, Inner West, is proud to announce the release of their Green Roofs, Walls and Facades Technical Guidelines!
The Guidelines provide technical advice to support the installation of green roofs, walls and facades in the Inner West. They aim to increase the uptake of vertical greening in the LGA to improve liveability and resilience. The Guidelines also contain information and tools including checklists and design specification guidance to help those interested to understand, plan, design and construct green roofs, walls and facades.
SCCG are delighted to see its release, which will hopefully promote greater uptake of environmentally beneficial designs.
The Guidelines are now publicly available on Councils website. Well done to Inner West for all their hard work and success.
