EMRC E-Newsletter April 2017

In this issue:

CEO's Message

The EMRC has had a busy start to 2017 with a diverse range of new and exciting projects delivered already this year. The EMRC's Resource Recovery Facility Tender closed in January and the evaluation process is now underway. The Resource Recovery Facility is a key component of the EMRC's Resource Recovery Project and supports the EMRC's commitment to reducing waste going to landfill.

Our Regional Services Directorate has also been working hard presenting a number of fantastic new community initiatives this month. The EMRC launched the Healthy Wildlife Healthy Lives website on 3 March 2017, an Australian first and filling a vital gap in community education about how our interactions with wildlife can be unintentionally harmful. Most people are aware that they can catch diseases from wildlife but don't know that they can give diseases to wildlife too.

The annual Perth's Autumn Festival is on again from 1 March 2017 to 31 May, with great events for family and friends every weekend. The EMRC has coordinated the festival in partnership with our member Councils for 17 years and has proudly watched it develop into a suite of community, art, culture and heritage events that highlight all that the region has to offer. Another great activity for families is the new Swan River Ramble, a marked path that uses the existing recreational shared path around the Swan River highlighting unique and interesting points along the way.

I would like to take this time to wish everyone a safe and happy Easter break and I encourage you to spend some quality time with your family and friends and to enjoy all that Perth's Eastern Region has to offer this autumn.

PETER B. SCHNEIDER
Chief Executive Officer

Contributing to Christmas cheer

Christmas is a time when wishes should come true. Not just for those of us who are doing well, but for those doing it tough too. The EMRC is proud to support organisations working together to create a brighter future for all.

The EMRC in conjunction with St Bartholomew's House held a Christmas Appeal to collect food items and general gifts for men, women and children for those Western Australians in need at Christmas time. St Bartholomew's House helps people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Their vision is to eliminate homelessness and their mission is to assist the homeless of today to rebuild their lives and act to prevent homelessness tomorrow. The EMRC delivered four large boxes of gifts, food items and toiletries donated by staff to St Bartholomew's House in time for Christmas.

The EMRC's Waste Operations employees also continued their eight year tradition of generously contributing to the Foodbank WA Christmas Appeal. Foodbank WA is a non-denominational, not-for-profit organisation which acts as a pantry to the charities and community groups who feed the hungry. Foodbank WA is a conduit between the food industries surplus food and the welfare sectors need. We are very proud to report that EMRC employees donated two large boxes of non-perishable food and grocery items for the appeal to support those in need.

A big thank you to those who donated and we look forward to supporting worthy causes again in 2017.

Celebrating autumn

Experience the region this autumn with the Perth's Autumn Festival. Enjoy food and wine experiences, leisurely bike rides, family events and community festivals every weekend from March to May. With a range of free or low cost activities autumn a great time to see all that the region has to offer.

Through April and May the festival continues with fantastic range of fringe events run by local community groups with food and wine experiences, leisurely bike rides, family events and community festivals. Most of the events offer free or low cost activities, making autumn a great time to see all that the region has to offer.

Perth's Autumn Festival is promoted by the EMRC on behalf of its member Councils and is supported by Lotterywest and Perth Airport.

For more information on the core and fringe events visit www.perthtourism.com.au.

Securing staff scholarship

The EMRC is proud to congratulate Human Resources Officer, Caris Jolly, on receiving a scholarship through the Metropolitan Local Government Youth Development Program. The $10,000 scholarship will support Caris to undertake a Bachelor of Psychological Sciences.

Caris's current degree and practical working knowledge of Human Resources provide a solid foundation for her new studies and the EMRC is delighted to support her to take on this new venture. The EMRC is committed to providing professional and career development opportunities to all staff and to assist with developing leadership at all levels.

The Metropolitan Local Government Youth Development Program is administered by the Department of Local Government and Communities and scholarships were available to local government employees, aged 30 years or younger, to participate in further study or training. We wish Caris all of the best for her studies.

Flood risk awareness rises

Recent flooding in the City of Swan has demonstrated the devastating effects flooding can have on people's homes and livelihoods. Since 2014, the EMRC has been working to provide a more detailed understanding of flood risk in Perth. Once completed, the Understanding and Managing Flood Risk in Perth project will generate up-to-date flood risk information and mapping as well as a floodplain development strategy enabling local government authorities and emergency management agencies to target future flood emergency response activities and increase flood awareness.

As part of this project the EMRC recently appointed expert consultants to undertake the hydraulic modelling and floodplain management study of the Swan and Helena Rivers. The EMRC received $20,000 from the Office of Emergency Management through the All Western Australians Reducing Emergencies (AWARE) program, with additional financial and in-kind contributions from project funding partners; Department of Waters; Cities of Bayswater, Belmont, Swan and South Perth; and the Towns of Bassendean and Victoria Park to continue the flood study.

Following the modelling, the project will involve Flood Risk and Vulnerability Assessments highlighting key regions that may benefit from increased protection, together with preparing an updated Floodplain Development Strategy to inform decision making regarding public and private property and infrastructure and facilitate the development of adaptation emergency response planning activities.

For more information on the Understanding and Managing Flood Risk in Perth project, please contact Joanne Woodbridge, Environment and Sustainability Coordinator, on (08) 9424 2243 or email Joanne.Woodbridge@emrc.org.au

Helena River confluence with Swan River in Guildford, January 2017	Swan River at Middle Swan Reserve, January 2017

Ramble around the Swan River

The Swan River is a perfect place to walk, cycle, jog, picnic and play, so why not join Eric on the Swan River Ramble and explore the area?

The Swan River Ramble is a marked path that uses the existing recreational shared path around the Swan River. With help from a fictional character named Eric, the Swan River Ramble is a fun way for children and families to enjoy all that the area has to offer.

Eric is hiding at 14 different locations around the Swan River and to help you make the most of these local treasures all you need to do is find Eric and use a QR reader (available for download from your app store) to unlock information about the stop!

For more information on the Swan River Ramble visit www.perthtourism.com.au

Do one thing for backyard wildlife

The EMRC, in conjunction with Healthy Wildlife Healthy Lives project partners Murdoch University and Lotterywest, have launched a new Healthy Wildlife Healthy Lives website that will provide information about keeping wildlife healthy. Most research and community information provided focuses on the diseases that wildlife can pass to humans and pets. This project bucks the trend becoming the first project of its type focusing on the diseases humans and pets pass to wildlife in Australia.

There is an increasing interaction between humans, domestic animals and wildlife in urban areas due to habitat loss and urban encroachment on native bushland. The Healthy Wildlife Healthy Lives website provides an easy source of information for the community on appropriate ways they can protect wildlife. Did you know that feeding a quenda just seven peanuts is the equivalent of a human eating an entire hamburger?

The website was officially launched at Native Animal Rescue on 3 March 2017 by Simon Cherriman, Environmental Biologist, Educator and Filmmaker. EMRC Chairman, Cr David Fardig officiated the ceremony which coincided with World Wildlife Day, which this year had the primary message of 'do one thing today to help the world's wildlife'. We encourage you all to do one thing to help your backyard wildlife, just visit the Healthy Wildlife website.

For more information on the Healthy Wildlife Healthy Lives project, visit www.healthywildlife.com.au or contact Catherine Nind, Environmental Projects Officer, on (08) 9424 2212 or email Catherine.Nind@emrc.org.au

Bush Skills for the Hills back again

Bush Skills for the Hills are a series of free, hills-focused workshops for the community provided every year by the EMRC in partnership with member Councils. The workshops are a refreshing mix of information and practical hands-on sessions that are designed to give participants both the why and how of managing land, bush and creeks in the hills environment.

The January to June program is available for download here. For more information on Bush Skills for the Hills, please contact Aimee Kontor, Administration Officer, on (08) 9424 2216 or email Aimee.Kontor@emrc.org.au.

Reporting road safety

Between 2011 and 2015, there were 107 fatalities on the roads within the region and thousands more people who were hospitalised or required medical treatment. Improving road safety for all road users across the region is a priority for the EMRC and to understand whether road safety improvements are working it is essential that we continuously review road crash data.

In March 2017, EMRC's Council adopted a Regional Road Safety Report Card which summarises data from Main Roads WA Crash Analysis Reporting System and the Road Safety Commission. The data includes the number of 'killed or seriously injured' crashes, types of vehicles, crash type, road features involved and includes a map highlighting black spots within the region.

A safe transport network is one where all road, public transport and active transport users feel safe when utilising or interacting with the network. The EMRC will track the road crash data across the region and advocate for improved road infrastructure.

The Road Safety Report Card has been developed in consultation with the EMRC's Regional Integrated Transport Strategy Implementation Advisory Group. For more information, or to download a copy of the report card, click here.

Strategic framework striving ahead

The EMRC is pleased to announce that the Regional Environment Strategy 2016-2020, Regional Advocacy Strategy 2016-2020 and Regional Integrated Transport Strategy 2017-2021 have all recently been adopted by Council. The Regional Services Directorate has been working tirelessly to develop these new strategies in partnership with member Councils and the resulting documents are already receiving accolades.

In adopting the Regional Environment Strategy 2016-2020 the EMRC will be one of the first organisations in Australia to progress regional environmental management under the global United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework. The SDGs provide a new and exciting strategic method for the EMRC to work effectively with member Councils and stakeholders towards achieving excellence in environmental protection and management.

The EMRC's Regional Advocacy Strategy 2016-2020 is a collective voice on regional priorities. In pursuing regional outcomes that benefit member Councils, the EMRC initiates and develops relationships with individuals, organisations and state and federal governments. This strategy outlines a new advocacy perspective for the EMRC providing an 'external' and outward focused strategy that has the capacity to deliver broad scale, big picture outcomes.

The Regional Integrated Transport Strategy 2017-2021 also takes a new approach expanding the scope of EMRC transport activities to include a range of contemporary issues such as intelligent transport systems; behaviour change programs; self-sufficiency and decentralisation; heritage sites; health and physical activity; waste generation; and stormwater and roadside litter management. The strategy has been developed in conjunction with the EMRC's Regional Integrated Transport Implementation Advisory Group. This group is particularly unique in its broad representation which includes the EMRC, all six of EMRC's member Councils, Department of Transport, Main Roads Western Australia, Public Transport Authority, Department of Planning, Perth Airport, Western Australian Road Transport Association, Road Safety Commission, RAC and Western Australian Local Government Association.

For more information on the EMRC's recently adopted strategies, please contact Wendy Harris, Director Regional Services, on (08) 9424 2208 or email Wendy.Harris@emrc.org.au

Council and committee meeting dates

Meeting dates for 2017 are available online:

EMRC Council

EMRC Committees