These studies have partly been funded by State Government Grants of $2 million and Council's revenue stream.  Greg said that some people questioned the wisdom of undertaking these studies but he said it was absolutely essential that we have a proper understanding of the risk to our urban areas and farmlands should the forecast of dramatic climate change eventuate.   In addition to assessing possible effects of climate these studies are also necessary to determine appropriate safe floor levels for new development, which includes residential dwellings.

When Council has to undertake the demolition of buildings and bridges we have a requirement that as much re-use of the material occur as possible.  With bridge timbers, we have discovered that there is a great demand for beams to be used as building features in some new buildings.

In another initiative Greg said that Council had experimented successfully by using old tyres to act as stormwater run-off treatment structures in a new industrial subdivision at Flinders Industrial Estate.

Council has offered to transfer 50 hectares of high conservation value land as an offset for about 1.8 hectares of degraded parkland. This land transfer is proposed as a means of facilitating the construction of essential public infrastructure (North Nowra Link Road).