Council wins prestigious environment award
Friday 10 June 2011
From the left: Councillor Diane Ammundsen (holding the award certificate), Mayor Jenny Rowan (with the award plaque), Jake Roos (Council’s climate change and energy advisor), and Ben Thompson (Council’s water advisor).
Kāpiti Coast District Council has won the ‘Central and Local Government Stepping Up’ category in the highly prestigious Green Ribbon Awards run by the Ministry for the Environment.
The awards were announced by the Minister for the Environment at a special function at Parliament last night. The awards are to recognise “the outstanding contributions of individuals, organisations, businesses and communities to protecting and enhancing New Zealand’s environment.” There were more than 203 nominations across 12 categories.
Kāpiti Mayor Jenny Rowan said the win was “huge recognition” of the substantial amount of work undertaken by this and previous Councils in recent years.
“This win recognises 10 years of effort by Council to place the principles of sustainable development at the heart of local government decision-making. It involves years of consistent appreciation of what is needed to make an impact in this area and a willingness politically to run with it.”
Jenny Rowan said she was very proud of the achievement, but it was one to be shared by a number of people, including staff, councillors and former councillors.
Kāpiti’s winning case included:
- Work to reduce carbon emissions including installing a wood fired boiler at the Paraparaumu Sewerage Treatment Plant, which will cut the Council’s carbon emissions by 23%, upgrading its pensioner housing with insulation and solar panels, distributing low energy light bulbs free to residents and installing solar heating at Ōtaki Pool.
- Providing a wide range of help and advice to householders via its Green Gardener, Green Plumber and Eco-Design Advisor and others, and showcasing sustainable living at its annual Sustainable Home and Garden Show.
- Working with community groups including planting groups, schools and the ‘Greenest Street’ competitors and providing them with practical support, education and grants via its Sustainable Neighbourhoods Co-ordinator, Environmental Restoration Officer and support for the Enviroschools programme.
- Leading the way with planning policies for sustainable development, including Plan Change 75 which requires new homes to have grey water systems and/or rainwater tanks.
- Sponsoring the establishment of the Clean Technology Centre in Ōtaki and putting environmental sustainability and resilience at the centre of its economic development plans for the district.
- Extending walkways and cycle ways and encouraging sustainable transport.
Jenny Rowan said many of the sustainability initiatives undertaken by Council could be replicated across New Zealand by other local authorities.
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