Council wins sustainable award

LISMORE City Council has won a statewide Sustainable Procurement Award at the NSW Local Government and Shires Association Excellence in the Environment Awards.

LISMORE City Council has won a statewide Sustainable Procurement Award at the NSW Local Government and Shires Association Excellence in the Environment Awards held in Sydney this week.

The council's contracts and property services coordinator Ross Davies said the award recognised Lismore City Council had achieved excellence in sustainable procurement.

"It was a great result to top the state and the award recognises the hard work we have undertaken to develop a Procurement Policy that provides clear guidance to all staff when they are buying good and services," Mr Davies said.

"We have already delivered some significant benefits as a result of our approach to sustainable procurement including: a 50% reduction in the amount of paper purchased over the past few years; the installation of solar power on four council buildings that is delivering significant offset credits for council; and the rationalisation of council's light fleet to small capacity four-cylinder engines.

"Overall the policy was developed to ensure cost-effectiveness; meet the needs of the community; promote good management practices; ensure transparency and probity; and promote sustainability.

"The policy also has a component that emphasises the importance of providing benefits to the local economy by assessing 'local content' and purchasing goods and services locally wherever practical."

Lismore Mayor Jenny Dowell said she was proud the council had received the award and was especially pleased with the impact the procurement policy was having on council practices and for the broader community.

"This is a clear demonstration of how a good policy that is well-applied can deliver great results for this community," Cr Dowell said.

"As a result of our procurement policy we have seen changes implemented that have enabled us to deliver on council's sustainability objectives while providing economic returns for council and for the local economy."

Originally published as Council wins sustainable award