Case studies of coastal councils
Coffs Harbour, NSW: Increasing the success of environmental programs
In developing this case study, a number of councils have been contacted. In particular, Coffs Harbour City Council has been a driving force. The examples in this case study are not meant to reflect poorly on any particular council, but are used to demonstrate some key issues that affect the success of achieving real environmental changes.
This case study looks at the need to generate organisational change within council in order to achieve environmental outcomes. The adequate provision of water is then used to demonstrate why councils need the capacity to effectively evaluate alternative solutions to emerging problems. Finally, some of the issues around why biodiversity strategies do not always achieve biodiversity conservation are canvassed.
Organisational change
When councils run environmental programs they are often trying to generate a change in behaviour within their community, such as using water more efficiently or promoting the value of natural assets. However, it is sometimes the case that behaviour change is also required WITHIN council for these programs to be more successful. For instance, removing the 'silos' within councils and achieving a whole-of-council understanding can result in improved environmental outcomes.
New environmental projects can require a council to change their management or decision making framework. Environmental challenges often require innovative solutions and councils may need to 'think outside the square'. Solutions are not always readily identified and hence councils need to encourage staff to continually develop new ideas and to monitor and assess these ideas and make changes where necessary. Priorities can change and councils need to be able to adapt and respond accordingly.
Successful projects are often developed up by officers with vision and innovative thought. Brainstorming sessions and an open mind to new ideas are essential within council. Often developing new ideas is the easy part. The hard part is working out how to fund and implement new project ideas. For these reasons, a passionate officer driving the project is required.
It is often the case in organisations that while new concepts are embraced, their implementation is not as there is no change in the behaviour of staff or elected officials. This may be due to them thinking the new concept is too expensive, to hard, or never going to happen.
For instance, many councils have embraced the concept of triple bottom line reporting. In fact ICLEI have assisted councils to do so through the development of a TBL Toolkit. However, the success of implementing such programs has been varied, for a number of reasons. Firstly, all staff and Councillors must be adequately trained in the new processes and understand the concept of what sustainability is. There is however a large leap from understanding the theory to implementing it through decision making. A number of reasons have been identified, including trepidation at the budgetary implications, a lack of change in staff behaviour and a fear of how they will be viewed when making sustainability based decisions. It is therefore very important that there is strong leadership in moving towards new systems, such as triple bottom line decision making, if they are to be successfully implemented. In generating strong leadership within council, it is therefore important to ensure that key personnel are supportive and informed from the start.
Change is essentially what is aimed for in any environmental project. Therefore it is critical that this change is supported and leaders are identified to assist with generating this change in behaviour. Required change, change management resources and the organisation's capacity for change should always be explored in the first place before any environmental program that is set up.
Some points to consider include:
- What and where are the key power relationships within council?
- How is conflict resolved?
- How is change and innovation encouraged and by whom?
- What have been the major events that have generated change within council?
- How and who supports change?
- How equipped are you, as an individual, to encourage and guide change within council?
Capacity to evaluate innovative alternatives
Few coastal councils have had the capacity to maintain long term strategic planning at the level required to deal with the rapid population growth they have experienced over the last few years. If councils had this capacity and the required funding to implement plans, they wouldn't be facing their current problems.
The rate of population growth has meant many forms of infrastructure are inadequate and councils have had to react to problems, rather than be proactive. This is particularly true in regards to water provision. Traditional means of increasing water supply often result in the building of a new dam or expanding the capacity of the current storage. The immediacy of the situation and a lack of capacity within council, combined with community pressure to do something now, may mean the most sustainable solution is not always found.
The recent ALGA survey of coastal councils found that the major environmental concern of councils is the lack of a consistent supply of good quality water. Indeed, this is a priority issue for Coffs Harbour City Council. Dry conditions and rapidly increasing demand for water has resulted in Council introducing water restrictions for a number of years. Recognising this as a temporary measure, Council embarked on a project to improve the supply of water to residents.
Council moved to introduce water conservation measures and to educate residents of the value of water. They established the Water Wise campaign, which included Council subsidies to residents to install water efficient shower heads and dual flush toilets. Permanent level one water restrictions are now in place and all new developments must contain a 4500 litre rainwater tank. As a result, Coffs Harbour now has one of the lowest per capita rates of water use in NSW.
Council also undertook a project to pipe water from a neighbouring catchment, 90kms away and spent $180m on installing a deep ocean sewerage release. One project was bringing water in from another catchment and the other was disposing of grey water out to sea. The immediate problem has been fixed - the City of Coffs Harbour now has a reliable water supply - however there may have been alternative solutions that could have been explored if Council had more time to find a solution.
For example, the council is now embracing the Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) philosophy. Council is working towards the development of a WSUD white paper outlining proposed guidelines for new developments. This will be further refined with the input of local developers. Council will then use the white paper to develop policy and internal processes. Council plans to develop a flexible system where developers can use site specific measures to achieve a high enough rating for the development to be approved. The system needs to be flexible enough for industry to develop innovative ideas to achieve WSUD.
Council is also developing a Sustainable Development Strategy to address issues broader than water conservation in new developments. Council recognises that future developments need to embrace sustainability in a broad context, not just in relation to water.
Had council had adequate time and resources to develop a response to the water shortage initially, the 90km pipeline and deep ocean outfall projects may not have been required at all. Instead projects focussing on water recycling may have been considered. For instance, the rainforests of the region are perfect natural filters for treated water. Keeping the water in the catchment and reusing it after natural processes had occurred may have provided an alternative to the city's water shortage.
Achieving real outcomes in biodiversity conservation
A number of councils are now developing biodiversity or related strategies. Whilst these are a good means of evaluating biodiversity resources in the LGA, they are only a first step to successfully conserving these resources. Despite the existence of the strategies, biodiversity is still being lost, but why?
Fragmentation of habitat can occur and eventually it can become so degraded that it is no longer worth conserving, even when a plan is in place. This is caused by a number of factors, but ultimately, until Australia's biodiversity and the benefits it provides (sometimes referred to as ecosystem services) are adequately valued, it will be difficult to conserve biodiversity. It is safe to say, this is an issue for all governments and communities.
What has Coffs Harbour done?
Biodiversity protection was the primary driver for introducing an environmental levy in 2000. With the collection of this levy, Council has been able to undertake a number of environmental planning initiatives and has funded a team of biodiversity experts to undertake strategic development and planning activities for council.
As community and council awareness of biodiversity increased, council activities have increased. Council undertook a wide-ranging vegetation mapping exercise of the shire. The whole shire has been aerial mapped and detailed 3D modelling of the City has been completed. This information has been used to develop the Coffs Harbour Vegetation Management Study and numerous other environmental strategies.
High conservation value areas have been identified in Council's Vegetation Strategy. This plan is not yet endorsed by Council. Proposed actions in the strategy include conservation and rehabilitation targets. To achieve these targets it is proposed to purchase ecologically significant areas and provide incentives for private landholders to better manage significant areas. Clearer rules for clearing have been proposed along with criteria for assessment. However at this stage, further funding is required to implement these actions. Council is now in the process of forming partnerships with the regional NRM body and philanthropic organisations to assist.
The Strategy aims to protect all high value areas by 2020. This will be made more difficult due to the historic zonings in the shire which never accounted for biodiversity factors and were in place before any environmental Acts aiming to preserve threatened species or native vegetation were developed. Also, while the LGA's biodiversity has been mapped, it has not yet been properly valued.
Challenges to achieving success
Biodiversity initiatives are not traditional activities of the council and implementation has at times been cumbersome. Council activities are not always as well integrated as they could be. For instance, the activities of roadside management crews could be better integrated with the objectives of the biodiversity department. Also, planning staff need to be well trained in legislation such as that covering native vegetation to ensure the Act is accounted for in all planning documents and decisions. Council continues to work on achieving better linkages between their departments to ensure that all environmental activities are contributing to the same goals.
The collection of data to use in planning is sometimes difficult. It is available, however many different organisations collect and control it. It is therefore difficult to bring together. Data sharing is important and opportunities to improve the management of environmental data must be explored.
The next 5-10 years will be critical to protecting biodiversity. Once it is lost to development it cannot be retrieved. Decisions made 20 years ago are still impacting on biodiversity so prompt action is required to limit these impacts.
As the make up of councils changes, so do their priorities. This can impact on building the momentum for all environmental projects. Communities need to value their natural resources if their conservation is to be a council priority.
