Newcastle leads the way

Newcastle Council has had a history of leading the way on a variety of issues of importance to our community.

Newcastle was the first Council in NSW to ban smoking in restaurants - after some time the State Government passed state-wide legislation following suit - recently the Council banned smoking in outdoor dining areas.

Newcastle Council was the first council to:

* have a commitment to indigenous people

* ban the use of rainforest timbers in building work

* (one of the first to) institute a nuclear free zone in the LGA

* ban wild animals in circuses coming to the city

* include social, environmental and industrial relations performance as part of council's tendering process

* develop an integrated waste management strategy, including a target for the phased elimination of waste to landfill (approach subsequently adopted by the ACT Government)

* adopt a local Agenda 21, described in the blueprint for sustainability that was agreed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 (the Rio Earth Summit).