Conserving our Natural Heritage – What is Council’s Role?

What role should council play in environmental action? Some say that council, being a very small player in the global scene, should not try to achieve environmental goals such as carbon emission reductions. Or, that council should simply focus on “basics” like roads, rates and rubbish.

However, I believe that we need to be stewards of the land on which we live. We have a responsibility to care for it, reduce our harm to it, and repair it where we can. Doing so will not only be good for the land, but also for our own health and wellbeing.

Here are some practical ideas:

1. Ensure that council assets are using renewable design and energy.
2. Rehabilitating our natural heritage. For example, the Bendigo Creek is currently undergoing work of this kind – I support this. I would also support the rehabilitation of former mining land, like Victoria Hill, especially given the proposals to make the Victorian Goldfields a UNESCO heritage site.
3. Implementing “circular economy” solutions for waste. This involves supporting industries that take products at the end of their life, and converts them into usable materials for other products. This prevents these products from going into landfill.
4. Increasing dramatically the net amount of trees in the municipality. We do plant thousands of trees each year but many are also lost (due to age or construction). Having a green Bendigo will cool our city and make it a lovely place to live.
   

What are your ideas for taking care of our natural heritage?