A State of the Environment Report (SoE) provides a summary of the environment within the local government area and the human impacts on that environment. It provides an annual and comparable record of the local activities or responses of local government, industry and community groups in the protection, restoration and enhancement of the local environment. The SoE is therefore is a useful tool in measuring, and a mechanism for reporting on, Council and community progress towards Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD).
Comparing SoE reports from year to year enables us to gauge improvements in different sectors of the environment and also identify those areas that will need attention in the future.
We commenced the environmental reporting process in 1993, preparing the first Blacktown State of the Environment Report. The reports prepared are either comprehensive or supplementary, based on a four-year cycle between comprehensive reports. Subsequent reports have built upon the data presented in that initial report, permitting a greater understanding of the local environment and the complex issues that influence its condition.
The report has been prepared based on the themes of: