ORANGE CITY COUNCIL
Environment and Economic Development Policy Committee
Agenda
3 March 2015
Notice is hereby given, in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 1993 that a Environment and Economic Development Policy Committee meeting of ORANGE CITY COUNCIL will be held in the Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Byng Street, Orange on Tuesday, 3 March 2015.
Garry Styles
General Manager
For apologies please contact Michelle Catlin on 6393 8246.
Environment and Economic Development Policy Committee 3 March 2015
1.1 Apologies and Leave of Absence
2.1 Garage Sale Trail - 2014 Evaluation
Environment and Economic Development Policy Committee 3 March 2015
1.1 Apologies and Leave of Absence
The provisions of Chapter 14 of the Local Government Act, 1993 (the Act) regulate the way in which Councillors and designated staff of Council conduct themselves to ensure that there is no conflict between their private interests and their public role.
The Act prescribes that where a member of Council (or a Committee of Council) has a direct or indirect financial (pecuniary) interest in a matter to be considered at a meeting of the Council (or Committee), that interest must be disclosed as soon as practicable after the start of the meeting and the reasons given for declaring such interest.
As members are aware, the provisions of the Local Government Act restrict any member who has declared a pecuniary interest in any matter from participating in the discussion or voting on that matter, and requires that member to vacate the Chamber.
Council’s Code of Conduct provides that if members have a non-pecuniary conflict of interest, the nature of the conflict must be disclosed. The Code of Conduct also provides for a number of ways in which a member may manage non pecuniary conflicts of interest.
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Recommendation It is recommended that Committee Members now disclose any conflicts of interest in matters under consideration by the Environment and Economic Development Policy Committee at this meeting.
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TRIM REFERENCE: 2014/2506
AUTHOR: Wayne Davis, Manager Waste Services and Technical Support
EXECUTIVE Summary
Council at its meeting of 5 August 2014 endorsed a two year participation in the National Garage Sale Trail initiative. The National Garage Sale day was held on Saturday 25 October 2014 and this report highlights the achievements of the Orange participants which enabled re-use, reduction of waste to landfill, facilitated new neighbourly connections and provided a platform for fundraising by individuals and community groups thus stimulating the local economy.
Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan
The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “13.3 Our Environment – Identify changing community aspirations and undertake community engagement to inform planning and advocacy of plans and policies for waste management and resource recovery”.
Financial Implications
The participation cost is $2,500 p.a. over two years with funding from within Council’s Waste Services and Community Services programs. The ongoing support for the project will continue to be managed within the existing waste budget.
Policy and Governance Implications
Nil
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That Council continue its participation in the National Garage Sale Trail program for 2015 which is scheduled to occur on Saturday 24 October 2015 with any expenditure to be funded from the existing waste budget. |
further considerations
Consideration has been given to the recommendation’s impact on Council’s service delivery; image and reputation; political; environmental; health and safety; employees; stakeholders and project management; and no further implications or risks have been identified.
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
This report has been provided to summarise the October 2014 event with some of the outcomes that have been achieved and worthy of note provided as follows:
· Orange was one of 43 NSW Council partners
· Orange had 13 registered garage sales with 52 sellers
· 12 of the registered sales were domestic householders and 1 was made up of commercial sellers with 8 stalls
· At the commercial stalls, there were 18 people selling and Council promoted the sale of surplus goods and equipment which diverted from landfill this material and gained income for redistribution to Council’s community services programs.
· Survey data revealed that 68% of participants regard themselves as “environmentally conscious” and actively attempt to limit their footprint; 81% want to participate in the 2015 event and 27% of sellers would not have hosted a garage sale if it had not been for this event. This highlights the value of this annual community event in terms of awareness of an additional sustainable practice.
· 50% claimed that participation made them think differently about what they throw out and of those people 75% were more aware that things could be reused or recycled.
· 72% agreed they were more conscious about the role they played in decreasing the amount of waste they generate.
· 54% of people agreed that reusing materials is an important part in sustainable living.
· Average number of shopping trolleys of material redistributed per household sale was 14.
· There were 1,650 items listed for reuse on garagesaletrail.com.au.
· Average number of items sold was 85 with an average weight of 78kg per seller.
· An important part of the seller’s journey is understanding what they plan to do with their unsold items and ensuring that items are being disposed of responsibly. A partnership with eBay was developed so that sellers could easily sell items via eBay after their sale had finished. 66% of sellers said they will sell online or with eBay. 45% of sellers stated that they would have another sale or go to a local market after the event. Only 10% of sellers claimed they would put unsold items in the rubbish bin.
· Average funds raised per household was $284 and for the Council stalls it was $937.
· Average number of community connections made per participant was 26.
· 69% of participants were aware that Council made Garage Sale Trail happen.
· 73% agreed that Council actively promotes recycling and reusing.
· 59% agreed that Council brought their community together.
· 82% agreed that a small proportion of their rates should go towards funding community events like Garage Sale Trail.
From a Council perspective, the campaign helped to promote Reuse and Reduction of Waste to Landfill and build community within the LGA whilst also stimulating the local economy and with continued support and promotion in 2015, it is envisaged that the event will be even more popular. The costs to continue to support the initiative will be covered in the existing waste budget for 2015/16.