Michaela Meade
Hume residents will be able to make their mark on the future of the municipality by having their say on the council’s draft Live Green Plan.
The Live Green Plan will set out how Hume council will engage residents to live in an environmentally sustainable way.
The council endorsed the draft plan last week, which will include a further review by the its sustainability taskforce.
The taskforce is the council’s community environment advisory committee, which was established in 2002 to help residents provide input and advice about policies and programs.
“The themes of the [plan] come from council’s long-term vision outlined in Hume Horizons 2040 which is developed from community input,” the draft plan said.
“This [plan] directly incorporates two of the five key themes of Hume Horizons 2040 and the Council Plan 2016-2020, specifically; a healthy and safe community; and a sustainably built and well-maintained city with an environmentally engaged community.”
A report to last week’s council meeting said the Live Green Plan would provide a strategic context for a range of council-run activities and programs which have already experienced a growth in popularity, including Live Green workshops.
According to the draft plan, the workshops experienced an increase in participation, from 994 participants in 2013, to 1944 in 2018.
“A minimum 84 per cent of Live Green workshop respondents reported changes in behaviour towards more sustainable living,” the draft plan said.
Other council initiatives include Enviro Champions, environmental scholarships, the Greening Program, community energy efficiency, and a variety of school programs.
According to the draft plan, residents wanted the council to incorporate a number of “priority themes” into the final plan.
“These themes include; energy saving and climate change action; waste reduction and increased recycling and composting; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People’s ecological practices; connecting with nature and taking action to protect it; and food growing and sustainable food,” the draft plan said.
“When asked what themes were important for the [plan] to cover, the top two issues respondents thought should be tackled first were energy saving and climate change action, and waste reduction and increased recycling and composting.”
The draft plan will be open for the final stage of consultation until late September, with the final plan flagged to be adopted in November.
