Council looking to the future on waste and land use
Hornsby Shire Council endorsed a Local Strategic Planning Statement and adopted a Waste Matters Strategy at last night’s meeting.
The Local Strategic Planning Statement identifies land use priorities over the next 20 years and how growth will be managed.
The Waste Matters Strategy is designed to give Council a roadmap for handling the large amounts of waste it handles every year, including 66,000 tonnes generated by households.
Both were placed on public exhibition last year, with the Local Strategic Planning Statement receiving a particularly strong response.
More than 1,900 people were engaged in 14 events across the Shire, specifically designed to get a broad range of opinions on the draft statement.
Hornsby Shire Mayor Philip Ruddock is pleased with the broad feedback and the positive outcome.
“All councils in NSW are required to prepare a local strategic planning statement, but I doubt that any put as much effort as we have into ensuring input from residents,” Mayor Ruddock said.
“This is a crucial document that will guide council’s decision-making process for decades to come.”
The statement will now be sent to the Greater Sydney Commission for endorsement.
A key goal of the Waste Matters Strategy is to increase the amount of waste diverted from landfill from 44 per cent to 54 per cent.
“We’ve now passed a crucial milestone, preventing more than half of our household waste from going to landfill,” Mayor Ruddock said.
“However, there is still a long way to go and we will continue looking for ways to reduce our waste footprint.”
