Clover Moore budgets $15m for Sydney flowers, only $1m for OzHarvest
The City of Sydney will spend almost $15 million on throwaway flower displays in the CBD over the next three years — more than double what is spent on helping the homeless.
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Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore will blow almost $15 million on throwaway flower displays in the CBD over the next three years — more than double what she spends on helping the homeless.
In contrast to the bloom blowout, the council manages to spend just $6.6 million over three years on the homeless out of its total $630 million annual income. And the homeless charity OzHarvest gets just $30,000 a year from the city, with a one off $1 million payment because of COVID.
“I am not anti-flowers but I think we could be getting a lot better value for our ratepayers’ money,” councillor Kerryn Phelps said.
The Council has just signed a new three-year floral contract with Melbourne based company Citywide, which is chaired by former Victorian premier John Brumby, for $12,907,528 plus GST. Dr Phelps attempted to get the contract amended to increase its green credentials but was voted down.
“I love flowers and I support any reasonable efforts to introduce more greenery and natural elements into the city,’’ she said.
“But I think we can green the city in a much more thoughtful, sustainable, permanent and cost effective way, so that we are not just throwing out plastic pots of dead flowers several times a year.”
The Living Colour Floral Display program uses more than 100,000 plants which are either thrown out or given away at the end of the year.
Only 10 per cent of the flowers are perennials.
The city uses mostly thirsty European flowers that have to be watered at night by tankers that fill up with recycled stormwater from Green Square.
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“Australian natives in permanent planters would be a more sustainable way to go,” Dr Phelps said.
The Council said the annual floral program “engages with the public through photography and social media, promoting social connectedness and environmental awareness.”
Ms Moore regularly extols the virtues of the flowers and recently told her Facebook audience: “Well here we are in Martin Place with our beautiful spring flowers and so you must try and get into the city and see our beautiful hanging baskets, 24,000 of them.”