Gosford City Council has been reporting on the State of the Environment in our local government area for the past 11 years. Over the years the format and content of this report has changed in response to the local community's requirements and Council's dedication to continuous improvement.

These past 11 years of environmental reporting have given Council an invaluable understanding of the state of the environment in the Gosford local government area. We have also learnt collectively as a Council to use our State of the Environment Report as an important resource in the processes of decision making and planning.

This year Council has taken the initiative to produce its first ever Sustainability Report in response to our need to report not only on the state of our natural environment, but also the state of the social and economic environments. Council aims to use this Sustainability Report to allow for more balanced decision making where environmental, social and economic considerations can be simultaneously taken into account for mutual improvement in all areas.

When taking the step to prepare this Sustainability Report, Council aimed to include a comprehensive report on the social and economic environments within our local government area and was determined not to take a tokenistic approach to these additional reporting components. These components are described in the chapters titled Economy and Society and Culture.

During the consultation that preceded the development of this report there was agreement that Council needed to report on its commitment to sustainability and how this commitment is realised and improved upon over time. It was decided that this commitment could best be described in a chapter titled Governance and Leadership. The information that would otherwise be found in the State of the Environment Report is for the main, contained within a chapter titled Environment.

It is important that readers of this report understand that sustainability reporting for Gosford City Council has just begun and it will take many years of reporting in the areas of:

• Economy
• Society and Culture
• Governance and Leadership

before we can reach the level of understanding we have gained to date from our 11 years of environmental reporting. As the years go by, we will be developing indicators which are meaningful in terms of improving our understanding in these new areas of reporting and which allow us to make balanced, informed decisions for future planning.

The intent of each of the principal chapters of the report is summarised below:

Governance and Leadership

- aims to detail Council's commitment to sustainability through policy development, management structures, planning initiatives, management systems and technologies.This chapter also describes the role of Council as a leader through our commitment to sustainability education programs and ecologically sustainable research.

Environment

- discusses all of the traditional components of the annual State of the Environment Report, such as:

• Human Settlement (including solid waste, heritage, noise and odour issues)
• Atmosphere (including air quality, greenhouse gas and transport issues)
• Land (including land degradation, contaminated land, and land use issues)
• Water (including drinking water, waste water, groundwater, recreational and estuarine water quality, stormwater, riparian zone protection, flooding and drainage issues)
• Biodiversity (including native vegetation, threatened species, management planning, conservation and estuarine biodiversity issues)

This chapter aims to detail Council's contribution to the sustainable management of the above issues.

Economy

- aims to describe the actions of Council that directly and/or indirectly influence the economic climate of the local government area and where appropriate, the region.This section focuses on the need to develop strong partnerships and the need to negotiate to achieve sustainable outcomes. Specifically this section discusses tourism, major employment development application process, Somersby Industrial Park, Business Central Coast and the Business Mentor Services program.

Society and Culture

- aims to describe social sustainability and its interrelationship with environmental and economic sustainability. Specifically this section discusses the progress towards social sustainability through three principal themes including: Community Identity; Equity; and Building Supportive Communities.

Your feedback on this report is very important as it provides guidance for improvement in forthcoming reports. All readers are urged to participate in the future direction of Council's Sustainability Report by making use of the feedback form included at the rear of this report or by writing to the officer responsible for the production and preparation of the report - Council's Sustainability Officer, Ann Stewart.

On behalf of Gosford City Council we hope you enjoy our Sustainability Report and we hope it becomes an influential resource in your life.

Download the 2005 Supplementary Sustainability Report 

Sustainability Report 2005 (PDF file, 2.6Mb)

Links to the Comprehensive Sustainability Report 2004

• Cover, Contents and Executive Message (PDF file, 131kb)
• Introduction (PDF file, 76kb)
• Governance and Leadership (PDF file, 205kb)
• Environment - Human Settlement (PDF file, 205kb)
• Environment - Atmosphere (PDF file, 164kb)
• Environment - Land (PDF file, 363kb)
• Environment - Water (PDF file, 851kb)
• Environment - Biodiversity (PDF file, 514kb)
• Economy (PDF file, 201kb)
• Society and Culture (PDF file, 195kb)
• Conclusion (PDF file, 206kb)