ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
PROGRAM MANAGERS REPORT After more than 3 years of hard work and dedication to the Georges River Combined Councils Committee, the Program Manager, Svetlana Kotevska left the organisation. The role remained unfilled for several months before I, Beth Salt, was brought on board. In the process of the Council amalgamations, the Host Manager at the former Hurstville City Council, Alison Hanlon, accepted a position in a different part of Council, leaving the role of Host Manager. I would like to thank Ali for more than 9 years of dedication to the and ensuring a successful organisation for us all today. I welcome the new Host Manager, Fiona Stock from the newly formed Georges River Council. During this year the has seen the successful completion of the Australian Government funded Building Indigenous knowledge and skills to improve urban waterways grant and the Green Army, the continuation of the Riverkeeper Program cleaning up rubbish along the river, further building of our scientific database of water quality parameters through the River Health Program, and our ongoing effort to education, advocate and lobby on behalf of the Georges River. I look forward to the year ahead and seeing what we can accomplish together! Beth Salt Program Manager 2
EXECUTIVE GROUP SUMMARY The Executive Group consists of our Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and Treasurer, supported by the Programs Manager and the Georges River Council Host Manager. The Executive Group are elected from the Councillors on our Committee, which includes representatives from all member councils. They are dedicated to administering the quarterly Ordinary Committee Meetings, reviewing financial statements and budgets at monthly meetings, and operating within the vision, mission and Terms of Reference. In 2016-17, the Executive Group also focused on implementing a staged funding model to secure the finances required for operations and passing a new constitution to enable all member councils to contribute to the future direction of as some of those councils were merged. The Council mergers and the appointment of a new Program Manager were major changes over 2016-17. Throughout the uncertain period, the staff and member councils continued to deliver their valuable program to protect, conserve and enhance the Georges River. We now look forward to working closely with member councils to build on our programs. THE EXECUTIVE GROUP Peter Scaysbrook Chairperson Geoffrey Shelton Vice-Chairperson Ben Moroney Treasurer Fiona Stock Host Manager Beth Salt Program Manager 3
RIVERKEEPER PROGRAM RUBBISH COLLECTION The Riverkeeper Program is a cornerstone program of the that removes rubbish from land surrounding the river and its tributaries, preventing the rubbish from being transported to downstream waterways. The Riverkeeper Program prevented 113 tonnes of rubbish from entering the river in 2016-17 alone, and approximately 605 tonnes of rubbish from July 2011 to June 2017. RUBBISH REMOVED FROM THE RIVER SYSTEM 2016/17 RUBBISH BY SUBCATCHMENT 2016/17 BAYSIDE 12 TONNES CAMPBELLTOWN CITY COUNCIL 19 TONNES CITY OF CATERBURY BANKSTOWN 16 TONNES FAIRFIELD CITY COUNCIL 20 TONNES GEORGES RIVER COUNCIL 11 TONNES LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL 27 TONNES SUTHERLAND SHIRE COUNCIL 8 TONNES 4
RIVERKEEPER PROGRAM BUSH REGENERATION 14 Football fields of primary weeding 95,388 m 2 of primary weeding, which is the equivalent to more than 14 football fields. 32 Football fields of maintenance weeding 218,983 m 2 of maintenance weeding, which is the equivalent to more than 32 football fields. = Football 46 fields of weeding More than 46 football fields worth of weeding. 10,700 Wheelie bins of green waste Generating 2,568 m 3 of green waste, equivalent to 10,700 wheelie bins of green waste. 10,385 Plantings 14,380 Community hours Hours of community 66 education LGA Labour Weed Treatment Revegetation (hours) Total area worked (m 2 ) Total weeds (m 3 ) (no. of plants) (m 2 ) Bayside Council 3,572 26,269 257 2,885 8,650 City of Canterbury-Bankstown 2,365 25,471 332 2,420 180 Campbelltown 2,166 344,150 396 280 800 Fairfield City Council 1,248 32,250 59 2,500 3,500 Georges River Council 3,707 50,685 89 60 120 Liverpool City Council 3,137 102059 1,259 1,540 500 Sutherland Shire Council 2,448 38,053 176 700 700 TOTAL 18,644 618,936 2,568 10,385 14,540 5
BUILDING INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS TO RESTORE URBAN WATERWAYS The Australia Government funded Building Indigenous knowledge and skills to restore urban waterways worked with the member Councils and the Local Aboriginal Land Councils to engage a team of young Aboriginals to learn contemporary conservation and land management skills and Aboriginal Traditional Ecological Knowledge for Elders and knowledge holders. 8 Aboriginal youths graduated from the program with Certificate 2 qualifications in Conservation Land Management and four of the youths with Certificate 3 in Indigenous Land Management. All 8 Aboriginal youths have gone onto paid employment in their desired field. 6
ACHIEVMENTS OVER 3 YEARS 280m Engineering works 280m of engineering works to stabilise riverbank and foreshore area is almost as long as Centrepoint in Sydney is tall. 173 Football fields which is equivalent to 118 hectares of bush regeneration. 52,251 Plantings 7
8 RIVER HEALTH MONITORING PROGRAM
VISION: To be a primary means of engagement and collaboration for understanding and improving the ecosystem health of the Georges River flowing into Botany Bay. River Health applies scientifically rigorous methods to the assessment of freshwater tributaries and estuarine sections of the Georges River. River Health is funded by Member Councils and receives ongoing support from the community, government, university and industry stakeholders. River Health communicates waterway management issues to a broad audience across the Georges River catchment. Annual River Health Report Cards are used to communicate the relative condition of waterways across the catchment to the general public. The Georges River catchment community is also engaged through presentations, festivals and community monitoring events. 430 hrs People across all age groups, from infants to retirees, contributed approximately 430 hours of participation in River Health in 2016-17. 300 hrs High schools are directly involved through teaching waterway monitoring, with approximately 300 hours of school participation in River Health in 2016-17. Over the past year, the network with scientists and waterway managers was strengthened through presentation of a paper at the Australian Stream Management Conference and co-supervision of a student from Western Sydney University. 2016-17 2017-18 In 2016-17, a detailed Temporal Trends Analysis Report was completed, allowing tracking of changes in the condition of River Health sites since 2009. Briefly, that report shows that the ecological condition of most sites has not improved or declined over that period. Forested sites maintain high ecological value, whilst urbanised sites are ecologically degraded. In 2017-18, River Health will develop rapid visual assessments to allow monitoring at a higher spatial resolution to inform targeted management aimed at improving waterway condition in urban areas. In 2017-18, River Health will continue spreading the message about caring for the Georges River to a diverse audience. Major initiatives include tailoring waterway education materials for integration into the curriculum of schools in urban areas and continuing to build River Health s reputation amongst the scientific community via publication in journals and conference presentations. 9
FINANCIAL REPORT 2016/17* INCOME $ Membership and Program fees 466,173 Operating Grants 257,000 Interest 15,127 TOTAL INCOME 738,300 EXPENSES Employee Costs 276,776 Materials & Contracts 585,682 Depreciation 11,194 Other Expenses 22,516 TOTAL EXPENSES 896,168 NET OPERATING RESULT -157,868 * For our detailed independently audited financial statement please go to our website: www.georgesriver.org.au ** Expenditure was more than total income due to use of grant carry over funds from 2015/16 expended in 2016/17 INTERESTING FACTS 68,000 beverage containers are littered in the Georges River Catchment each day 1 million More than 1 million people live in the Georges River Catchment 113 tonnes of rubbish is as heavy as a blue whale! 10
REPRESENTATIVES & PARTNERS EXECUTIVE GROUP Chairperson: Clr Peter Scaysbrook, Sutherland Shire Council Vice-Chairperson: Clr Geoff Shelton, Liverpool City Council Treasurer: Clr Ben Moroney, Campbelltown City Council Program Manager: Beth Salt Administrative Officer: Lisa Smith Host Manager: Fiona Stock, Georges River Council COUNCILLORS AND ADMINISTRATORS Bayside Council: Mr Greg Wright Campbelltown City Council: Clr George Greiss, Clr Darcy Lound, Clr Ben Moroney City of Canterbury-Bankstown: Mr Richard Colley Fairfield City Council: Clr George Barcha, Clr Dai Le Georges River Council: Mr John Rayner Liverpool City Council: Clr Peter Harle, Clr Geoff Shelton Sutherland Shire Council: Clr Tom Croucher, Clr Peter Scaysbrook Wollondilly Shire Council: Clr Michael Banasik STAFF REPRESENTATIVES OF MEMBER COUNCILS Bayside Council: Rachel Buzio, David Dekel, Stewart Harris, Colin Mable, Andrew Tsounis, Alexandra Vandine Campbelltown City Council: Alex Cave, Mitchell Clark, Michael Rhydderch, Renee Windsor City of Canterbury-Bankstown: Paul Angel, Rebecca Bell, Cherie Blackburn, Colin Brennan, James Carey, Emily Forrest, Nell Graham, Robyn Young Fairfield City Council: Reiner Davies, Eddie Ferry, Leonie Grey, Darren Ikin, Tim Johnson, Helen Pollard, Scott Reyes, Stuart Rodham Georges River Council: Meryl Bishop, Rob Casey, Alison Hanlon, Tom Heath, Glen Moody, Andrew Spooner, Fiona Stock, Heather Stolle Liverpool City Council: Joel Daniels, Belinda Hodges, Maruf Hossian, Bilijana Jovanovic, Madhu Pudasaini Sutherland Shire Council: Graham Avery, Ian Drinnan, Brendan Graham, Beth Noel, Kevin Seymour, Nathan Varley, Tegan Yasserie Wollondilly Shire Council: David Henry, Brad Staggs, Alex Stengl, Damion Stirling PARTNERSHIPS NSW Officer of Environment and Heritage National Parks and Wildlife Services NSW Department of Justice, Fairfield and Liverpool Community Corrections Western Sydney University, Regional Centre for Expertise on Education for Sustainable Management Greater Sydney Landcare Network NSW Department of Education Georges River Environment Education Centre Local Aboriginal Land Councils and Councils Aboriginal Advisory Groups Australian Museum SPLASH Cooks River Alliance Parramatta River Catchment Group Sydney Coastal Councils Group Greater Sydney Local Land Services Sydney Water COMMUNITY GROUPS Georges River Environmental Alliance: Sharyn Cullis, Peter Tralaggan Botany Bay & Catchment Alliance: Charles Gream, Brian Shaw Lower Georges River Sustainability Initiative: Melina Amerasinghe Friends of Oatley: Anne Wagstaff, Kim Wagstaff BIOFUND STEERING COMMITTEE Campbelltown City Council: Mitchell Clark City of Canterbury-Bankstown: Paul Angel Fairfield City Council: Tim Johnston Georges River Council: Alison Hanlon, Kathy Godfrey Liverpool City Council: Joel Daniels Sutherland Shire Council: Kevin Seymour LALC: Jay Daley & Nathan Moran (Metro), Brad Maybury (Gandangara), Megan Ely (Tharawal) Eco Logical Australia: Vanessa Cavanagh : Svetlana Kotevska, Anthony Wales, Lisa Smith GS LLS: Margaret Bottrell STAFF Program Manager: Svetlana Kotevska / Beth Salt Riverkeeper: Tony Wales River Health Coordinator / Aquatic Ecologist: David Reid Administrative Officer: Lisa Smith Host Manager: Alison Hanlon / Fiona Stock 11
The is an alliance of councils with collective responsibility for the Georges River and its catchment. CooksRiver A L L I A N C E