FREE Help to Cut Power Bills for Low Income Households

Penrith Council is partnering with the Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW in a Western Sydney pilot to help low income households in our area save money on their power bills and reduce carbon pollution.

The program is being offered to 1,000 homes in Western Sydney as part of a pilot which began in May 2009 and will finish at the end of July. The main program will be rolled out across NSW later in the year.

Every home that signs up will get a free:

• home visit by a trained assessor to find ways to save power in your home


• power saver kit to help kick-start your savings
  
• power saver action plan to show you other ways to save power and money.

People signing up to the program are expected to save at least $95 a year on their power bills. After the trial in Western Sydney, the program will be rolled out to a further 219,000 low income families across the rest of NSW.

If you have a pensioner, low income or veteran card or are registered as an energy retailer hardship customer and own or rent a private home, call the Environment Line on 1300 361 967 to book an assessment and start saving power, money and carbon pollution for free. Visit http://www.savepower.nsw.gov.au/ for details.

World Environment Day 2009

On World Environment Day, 5 June 2009, Penrith City Council will be presenting a cheque to the winners of the first funding round of the Pratt Foundation ‘Penrith Social Sustainability Grants Program’.

The grants were open to community organisations with deductible gift recipient status that support the vulnerable and disadvantaged in our community, made possible through the Pratt Foundation.

The Pratt Foundation has generously allocated $140,000 to be distributed for community benefit over the next six years, of which $40,000 has been allocated in 2009 to successful receipts in the first round. Council is proud to be the administrator of the local grants on behalf of the Foundation.

The grants will encourage community cohesion and cultural identity through projects that help to provide basic food, shelter and protection from harm, the maintenance of cultural and community identify and social and environmental actions that unite the community.

Three of Penrith’s Principles for a Sustainable City, adopted in 2003, strongly relate to social sustainability, including:

· Achieve long-term economic and social security;
· Empower people and foster participation;
· Expand and enable cooperative networks to work towards a common, sustainable future

The term ‘social sustainability’ is used to describe programs and projects that promote social inclusion, participation, cultural enrichment and connectedness. It also emphasises initiatives which support the vulnerable and disadvantaged in our communities.

Accordingly, the Visy Grants Program provides another important opportunity for Council to put into practice our commitment to social sustainability, and it will directly benefit the local community.

Congratulations to the successful applicants - keep up the great work and I hope this grant makes your job a little easier.

World Environment Day 2009 - Your planet Needs You – Unite to Combat Climate Change

This Friday is an important day for communities worldwide – both present and future. It is World Environment Day.

World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Celebrated annually on June 5, World Environment Day is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and attracts political attention and action.

The theme for this years World Environment Day is ‘Your Planet Needs You! Unite to Combat Climate Change’.

On this World Environment Day, people from all walks of life are encouraged to take steps towards making the planet greener and cleaner. Switch off the lights. Take public transport. Recycle. Plant a tree.

Our planet needs more than just action by governments and corporations; it needs action from each and every one of us. Although individual actions may seem small in the face of global threats and trends, when billions of people join forces in common purpose we can make a tremendous difference.

World Environment Day is ‘a people’s day’, which means it is your opportunity to be part of the global action to promote the protection of our planet, the sustainable use of our natural resources, and the adoption of a lifestyle that is friendly to the environment. Be part of the growing voice that calls for all peoples of the world to unite and take positive action to combat climate change.

Remember, whoever you are, wherever you’re from, you can make a difference.

For further details see - http://www.unep.org/wed/2009/english/