Executive Summary

Clarence Valley Council (CVC) comprises an area of 10,440 km², employs 613 staff, operates 7 administration centres, 10 works depots and serves 48,146 residents and ratepayers living in 44 towns, villages and city environs. CVC now represents an estimated 40% of the landmass of the Northern Rivers region. Council has a rate base of approximately 26,000 properties with a significant proportion of lands being non-rateable reserves and protected parks. The Council boundary extends from the temperate New England Plateau to the rugged mountain scenery of the Gibraltar Ranges, through fertile rural lands and river plains to more than 80 kilometres of spectacular coast.

The Clarence Valley Council area encompasses a diverse set of environmental features, cultures, traditions, communities and industries. Council is in its infancy as an organisation with many key strategic planning processes still under development. Preparation of an Integrated Local Environmental Plan, a Social Plan, Sustainability Action Plan and Economic Development Strategic Plan are only some of the key documents being developed by Council in consultation with the community that will play a role in determining the state of our local environment into the future.

This supplementary SOE updates last years comprehensive SOE where new information is available. The report utilises the State-Pressure-Response model and encompasses Council's sustainability initiative by reporting on the state of the environment under the five key elements of sustainability. The five main components are Ecological, Economic, Social and Cultural, Human Habitat and Governance. The traditional environmental headings of land, air, water, biodiversity, waste, aboriginal heritage, and non-aboriginal heritage are covered within the report predominantly in the ecology area with heritage covered in the social and cultural section and waste and air in the human habitat section.

The report highlights the pressures the local environment is under from new development and the continued increase in population. At the same time it recognises improvements to the local environment through a range of measures including the efforts of local volunteer groups such as WIRES, Landcare, and Dunecare groups and from council coordinated projects such as improved floodgate and drain management, improved management of sewerage and weed control work to improve biodiversity.

The following table gives a snap shot of key indicators that are discussed throughout the report.

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