Muswellbrook Shire Council State of the Environment Report 2010/2011

Executive summary

The 2010/11 State of the Environment report for the Muswellbrook Local Government Area is the final supplementary report for the current term of Council. The indicators represented in the report were primarily developed in 2008 based on the local environmental objectives council can control or monitor.

Council has 33 indicators that cover the main themes of the report. These are included through the 6 major themes.

Of the 33 indicators, 23 are showing a positive trend this year, 7 are indicating a decline and 3 are stable.

Community and school participation in Council run or sponsored events has doubled to over 600 people in the last year.

Both Council and Community water use has dropped significantly and in both areas the consumption is well below the target set for 2015. However this is attributed to it being a wetter year. Significant fluctuations in both community and council water use need to be monitored further.

Council’s fuel use has turned around after several years of consistent increase. More regular monitoring of this should help to maintain this improvement.

Council’s electricity use continues to grow along with total greenhouse gas emissions. Council CO2 contribution is 24,333 tonnes and growing despite the fuel use reduction. Council has partnered with Planet Footprint to help monitor this more regularly.

Waste disposal has increased due to construction work being carried out in the shire, however recycling has nearly doubled. Despite the increase in waste disposal, improved management at the Waste Management Facility has provided nearly 10 more years of life in the current void.

Mining continues to grow with 15% more land exposed by mining than the previous year. There has also been 10 times more land cleared than rehabilitated in the Muswellbrook LGA due to mining in the past year.

Air quality measurements held by Council shows decreasing levels of very fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the atmosphere at Muswellbrook. At just under 5µg/m3 it is the lowest annual average Council has measured. The establishment of the Upper Hunter Air Quality Monitoring Network will be able to show much more detail about air quality in the coming years.