Wagga Wagga City Council has been recognised for its dedication to environmental sustainability, receiving a Highly Commended award in the Environmental Leadership category at the Local Government Professionals NSW Excellence Awards in Sydney.
The awards have a number of categories including environmental leadership, community development, asset and infrastructure, community and partnerships, special project initiatives and innovative leadership.
The awards celebrate outstanding achievements and promote innovation and continuous improvement within NSW local government.
There was a strong field of nominations in the Environmental Leadership category, including metropolitan councils such as Randwick City, Waverley, Inner West and Camden Council, along with several large regional councils among the finalists.
The overall the winner was Byron Shire Council for its Main and Clarkes Beach Dune Recovery Project - Working with Mother Nature.
Director Community Janice Summerhayes said it was an honour to receive the Highly Commended Award for the Urban Cooling Strategy 2022-2052, which was adopted by Council in December 2022.
"This category celebrated the outstanding achievements by Councils across the state in planning for and protecting the environment," Ms Summerhayes said.
"It is wonderful to receive this level of recognition for all the work put in by Council staff to develop this important strategy for the future health, wellbeing and resilience our local community to climate change, and the inherent risks associated with a warming environment".
"The judges commented on how they liked the collaborative work and innovation for considering our residents in developing the strategy for future-proofing this city as it grows."
The Urban Cooling Strategy 2022-2052 is a 30-year plan to help cool the city through sustainable future developments and adapting public spaces.
It contains a wide range of actions that Council and the community can take to help reduce the impact of increasing temperatures and heat waves and will provide Council with information about priority neighbourhoods that have large populations who are more susceptible to heat-related illnesses and energy poverty.
"This will make a difference to the liveability of Wagga Wagga for not only our residents and visitor to the city now, but for my grandchildren and other people's grandchildren as they become adults and parents themselves in this city in the future," Ms Summerhayes said.
