With a close eye on global events, Wollongong City Council is continuing to deliver all our services as normal.
To date, we've had no interruptions to fuel supplies and have plans in place to manage and respond to fuel shortage challenges should they arise.
"We know this continues to be a challenging time for our community as we see the ongoing impacts of the conflicts in the Middle East,'' Lord Mayor of Wollongong Councillor Tania Brown said.
"These impacts may be felt beyond the bowser and the supermarket checkout. Many of us have personal connections to people living within the conflict zones and the countries themselves. It can be a difficult and emotional time.
"However, this is also when Wollongong as a community really shines. We're a caring community who look after and out for one another.''
In terms of Council's operations, we have a Fuel Supply Risk Working Group, which includes Council's Emergency Management and Resilience Lead. We're also part of the Illawarra Local Emergency Management Committee (LEMC) and the Illawarra-South Coast Regional Emergency Management Committee (REMC), which operate in accordance with the NSW Emergency Management arrangements. The committees comprise of relevant combat, functional area and supporting agencies who work together to identify, prioritise and coordinate the mitigation of risks affecting the Wollongong and broader Illawarra-South Coast Community.
Internally, our Fuel Supply Risk Working Group's focus is ensuring connectivity between Council's planning and preparations and the emergency services planning and preparations being undertaken at a local and state level.
"Council is closely monitoring global fuel supply issues and we're prepared and have plans in place should the circumstances change,'' Wollongong City Council General Manager Greg Doyle said.
"However, I want to be clear, to date there has been no interruptions to fuel supplies that have impacted our services.
"Should there be fuel shortages or the fuel prices escalate dramatically, we can and will adapt our operations.''
Over the past few years, Council has focused on incorporating low or no emission vehicles into our light fleet as part of our net zero targets. To date, we have a total of 36 fully electric, 3 plug-in hybrid and 79 hybrid vehicles in our light fleet. The chargers at Council premises are using 100 per cent renewable energy.
Cr Brown said Council had written to the NSW Minister for Transport, the Hon. John Graham MLC, requesting that the State Government introduce a four-week subsidy for public transport in NSW to cushion the impact of high fuel costs and reduce fuel consumption.
We have has also written to Local Government NSW in support of their recent advocacy to ensure continuity of waste services during the fuel crisis, seeking the designation of waste and resource recovery services as "essential" or "critical" services.
"Beyond delivering services to our community, we see Council has a clear role to play and advocate on behalf of our community,'' she said.
"This is why we've written to the NSW Minister for Transport, the Hon. John Graham, requesting the introduction of a time-specific subsidy for public transport, and Local Government NSW to indicate our support of their wish to see waste and resource recovery listed as essential or critical services.''
Cr Brown recommended community members looking for practical tips and information about the fuel crisis to visit the NSW Government's dedicated website .
The page is updated regularly and included a section titled "What you can do" that provides practical information for residents including where you can find information about fuel prices and availability.
