Media Releases

LED lighting saves millions

A changeover to LED street lighting is underway across Blacktown; a move that will shed a “greener” light on the streets and save the community millions of dollars in electricity bills.

 “Changing over 2,250 older and less efficient street lights will save $4.3 million over the next 20 years,” said the Mayor of Blacktown City, Councillor Stephen Bali.

 “Old, inefficient mercury vapour lights will be replaced with energy efficient LED lights, which are cheaper to run and more sustainable.

Breaking the myths on recycling

As landfill space decreases and costs increase, it’s important to improve our recycling habits. To create awareness and also celebrate Local Government Week (3-9 August), Hawkesbury Library Service will host a free recycling workshop on Wednesday, 5 August at 6pm.

Participants will learn how to help the environment, starting with the basics of recycling, learning about the different types of plastics found in many household items and what do to with certain materials. A demonstration of the ‘closed loop approach’ to recycling will be shown by Council’s Waste Education Officer.

New role for Ophir Road waste site

After many years as the focus for waste management for Orange residents, the Ophir Road Resource Recovery site will heading in a new direction and will be used less and less for landfill.

It’s expected that by the end of the year, apart from a couple of special categories of waste, its role as a landfill site will virtually end.

Its new work will be about being a transfer station for waste, a place where waste is taken to be stockpiled or processed before it’s taken to a new location.

Orange Mayor John Davis said the changes are the latest in Orange's long-term directions in waste management.

Putting Dubbo on the Asia Pacific stage

The 2015 Asia Pacific Cities Summit and Mayor’s Forum is currently underway in Brisbane and the City of Dubbo is represented along with more than 100 cities across the Asia Pacific Region including Singapore, Auckland, San Francisco and Sydney.

Mayor of Dubbo Councillor Mathew Dickerson was one of just 10 speakers from NSW and the only representative from a NSW Council on the main speakers program other than the Mayor’s forum. Councillor Dickerson spoke on the challenges of urbanisation particularly on where small cities fit in a global landscape.