Sustainability Strategy

Council decision making and Ecologically Sustainable Development

The 2006 Manly Sustainability Strategy - For Today and Future Generations is Council’s plan to ensure that Council’s decision making results in Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD).

The Strategy’s primary purpose is to integrate the social, economic and environmental considerations of sustainability and direct Council's initiatives to enable the people of Manly to live and work in harmony with their environment.

Originally adopted by Council in April, 1998, the national and state award winning Manly Sustainability Strategy was developed out of a partnership between Council and the community. It underwent a comprehensive review guided by the community in 2001-02, with the second three year review in 2005-06. The most recent review included the Surfing the Future forum and MyManly art competition which helped re-affirm and update the community vision:

“A vibrant and inclusive community, which values its heritage and works together to create a sustainable lifestyle and environment for all to enjoy”

The 2006 Manly Sustainability Strategy identifies Council actions and works towards meeting the community’s vision. The implementation of the Manly Sustainability Strategy is guided by the Manly Sustainability Strategy Management Group, which includes Councillor, Community and Council staff representation.

The Strategy's preparation and implementation places Manly firmly on track towards sustainability and addresses the global agreement of Agenda 21 (1992 Rio Earth Summit). In addition, the Strategy also addresses the Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) amendments to the Local Government Act 1993.

An overview of the Manly Sustainability Strategy titled "Towards a Sustainable Future: A Report to the Community on the Manly Sustainability Strategy" can be downloaded below. It presents a summary of information that is most relevant to community members.

Community report (3.39 MB)

Who cares about the environment survey

In 2002 Manly Council commissioned an independent telephone survey to explore the local community's knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviours in respect to environmental protection. The results of this survey were then used to develop Council's Education For Sustainability Strategy.

The survey was updated and repeated again in July 2007 with 308 residents to coincide with the upcoming review of the Education For Sustainability Strategy. The survey is funded by Council's Environment Levy.

Specific objectives of the 2007 survey included to:

Provide information about specific aspects of knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviours of a cross section of the population of the Manly Local Government Area;
Provide information relevant to planning, implementation and evaluation of Manly Council's programmes and initiatives;
Provide a local benchmark of a statistical time series, which can be used to track social dimensions of environment awareness for inclusion in Council's State of the Environment Report;
Promote discussion and wider awareness of the social dimensions of environmental protection; and
Be able to compare the results against the NSW State Government's "Who Cares About the Environment" survey series and the 2002 Manly Who Cares About the Environment survey.

Positive findings of the 2007 survey included:

83% of respondents knew that stormwater runs directly untreated into the waterways, indicating that Council's stormwater education programmes are getting the message across.
91% of respondents were concerned about environmental problems.
The most important environmental issue in Manly was pollution of beaches and oceans followed by water conservation and management.
100% of respondents said that they had recycled materials.
94% of respondents said that they made an effort to reduce water consumption.
92% of respondents said they made an effort to reduce electricity consumption by turning off lights and using appliances more efficiently.
91% of respondents avoided putting oils, fats, turpentine, etc down the sink.

Other findings included:

While 72% (down from 83% in 2002) knew that the majority of air pollution in NSW is caused by motor vehicles, only 60% (up from 52% in 2002) have reduced the use of their car.
59% of respondents aged 15 to 24 years mistakenly thought that the enhanced greenhouse effect is due to the hole in the ozone layer;
While pollution of beaches and oceans was ranked as the most important issue in Manly and littering was ranked as the 3rd most important issue, 34% (down from 43% in 2002) haven't taken action to avoid purchasing packaging.
Only 45% of respondents composted food and/or garden waste and almost one third of respondents (30%) were not sure about how to undertake household composting.

Interestingly, 49% of respondents said that they sourced their environmental information from the internet, (up from 20% in 2002). While 57% of respondents said they sourced their environmental information from the newspaper.

The Manly Who Cares About the Environment survey is modelled on, but less comprehensive than, the NSW Environment Protection Authority's "Who Cares About the Environment" survey series. Overall, most of the responses were in line with the State Government's survey findings. However, overall Manly residents are more concerned about environmental issues than residents accross the state as a whole.

The results of the Manly surveys can be downloaded here: