Bayside Council
Is a Power Partner
30% target
Renewable energy by 2030
323kW
installed on Council buildings
The Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership is a great initiative bringing together progressive Councils that are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.It gives us an opportunity to share our knowledge and experiences with other Councils as we work towards increasing our use of renewable energy sources.
Council has chosen the following pledges
Use council resources to support the uptake of renewable energy.
Bayside Council is an active member of the SSROC “Our Energy Future” (OEF) program that was officially launched on 21 June 2017 and is modelled on the Moreland Energy Foundation. The OEF program provides resources, staff, a website and educational programs to support residents and businesses in the uptake of renewable energy technologies and energy efficiencies.
Install renewable energy (solar PV and battery storage) on council buildings.
When Bayside Council joined the Cities Power Partnership, Council had four solar installations. Bayside Council now has seven; Bexley Depot, Bexley Community Centre, Bexley North Library, Sans Souci Library, Coronation Hall, Botany Administration Centre and Hillsdale Childcare Centre. Further solar installations are planned for the 2019/20 financial year.
Roll out energy efficient lighting across the municipality.
Bayside Council is a participant of the SSROC Street Light Improvement Program (SLIP) that is working with Ausgrid to improve the efficiency of street lighting across the SSROC region by replacing old residential street lighting with efficient LED lighting. When completed in 2020 this program will have replaced over 4,000 old mercury vapour streetlights with new energy efficient LEDs that will use only 25% of the energy of the old street lights, saving many tonnes of green house gases and reducing Council’s costs for street lighting significantly.
Set city level renewable energy or emissions reduction targets.
Bayside Council is a signatory to the SSROC Renewable Energy Master Plan and has a renewable energy goal of 30% by 2030. Additionally Council is part of the SSROC Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) due to begin on 1 July 2019. The PPA will supply 100% renewable energy to Council’s large energy-using sites during daylight hours. These sites include Rockdale Administration Centre, Rockdale Town Hall and Library, Eastgardens Library, Botany Aquatic Centre and the Bexley Depot. Supplying renewable energy to these facilities will again reduce Council’s greenhouse gas emissions significantly.
Develop procurement policy to ensure that the practices of contractors and financers align with council’s renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable transport goals.
Council currently has a sustainable procurement policy and strategy in place, which is being embedded into the new Procurement documentation, and an alternative travel policy that offers staff an opportunity for Council to fund the purchase of a bicycle through a staff payback program.
Bayside Council
What council has achieved in the past in energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable transport or broader sustainability
Bayside Council is committed to improving its energy efficiency and broader sustainability as well as supporting the community to achieve gains in these areas. As an active participant in the Southern Sydney Regional organisation of Councils Renewable Energy Master Plan. Bayside Council has committed to achieve a renewable energy target of 30% of Council’s and the communities energy use coming from renewable sources by 2030.
Council is involved in several projects to improve sustainability including;
- 323 kWs of solar installed on five Council facilities
- Planting 850 trees across the the local government area, as well as 4,000 seedlings in bushland reserves as part of the NSW Government’s 5 Million Trees program
- Providing free information and advice to residents and businesses regarding energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies and preferred suppliers (through the SSROC Our Energy Future (OEF) program)
- Working with Ausgrid to progressively upgrade streetlights to LEDs
- Retrofitting our administration building with LEDs, virtual desktops and an offsite cloud server
- A sustainable procurement policy and alternative travel policy allowing staff to purchase a bicycle via salary sacrifice, for riding to work
- Supplying discounted compost bins to residents and running composting and worm farming workshops for residents and schools
- Operating four community gardens within the LGA
- A popular community environmental program consisting of free monthly talks, workshops and tours
- A growing bushcare program with five active groups and 65 volunteers
What council hopes to achieve in the future in energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable
transport or broader sustainability
Besides several programs to increase our solar installations, improve street lighting and fleet efficiency in 2018 and beyond, Bayside Council is looking at ways to expand our bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and connect our communities to key open space, residential, education, commercial and employment destinations. Providing access to open and green space is a priority for Bayside Council, and we hope to expand on this by greening our streets with native tree and shrub planting programs and with innovative water management options such as raingardens to shape the landscape our streets and develop an eco-sensitive character to our emerging precincts.
What council hopes to gain from being a member of the Cities Power Partnership
Council hopes to learn from other councils as well as share our own knowledge on making a real difference to climate change through working with the local community.