Ryde Resilience Plan 2030
The City of Ryde has developed a local Resilience Plan to strengthen the community in becoming more resilient to the many challenges that are presented from chronic stresses and acute shocks.
The work complements a regional collaborative project known as Resilient Sydney, part of 100 Resilient Cities which is a global initiative pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation. This regional approach involves all 33 councils across the greater Sydney metropolitan region. Resilient Sydney received the Chief Commissioner's Award at the 2019 Greater Sydney Commission's Planning Awards.
Defining Resilience
Resilience is the capacity to withstand and recover quickly from difficulties. It means strengthening the ability to survive, adapt and thrive. Within the context of Ryde, it involves the capacity of individuals, communities, businesses, ecosystems and infrastructure to bounce back from hard times.
These difficulties fall into two main categories:
1. Longer term ongoing chronic stresses negatively affecting the City of Ryde that include:
- Climate change
- Housing affordability
- Risks from global or national economic downturn
- Transport congestion
- Food security
- Air pollution
- Social isolation
- Lack of connectedness
- Mental health.
2. Major shocks and emergency situations that include:
- Heatwaves
- Bushfires
- Storms
- Floods
- Infrastructure failures
- Disease outbreaks
- Communications meltdowns.
Why do we need a Resilience Plan?
A better prepared community and its stakeholders will help with its ability to survive, adapt and thrive in the face of such uncertainties.
If we know how to react, who to help and how to help, then we can work together to reduce the severity and negative impacts on the community. When a community, including local organisations and businesses, is well organised, cohesive and connected, it is stronger. The Resilience Plan has identified actions to build this collective strength and work together through change.
Engagement for development of the Resilience Plan
Preparation of this plan included substantial engagement through 2019-2020 with residents, more vulnerable groups, culturally diverse communities, local business and other organisations. This culminated in a public exhibition during May-June 2020 with consultations to better understand priorities of the community for targets, goals and actions set out in a draft of the Ryde Resilience Plan 2030. Well over 400 people across the local community and beyond participated in and directly contributed to development of the Plan.
How will our community be involved in the implementation of the Resilience Plan?
Council is now in early stages of an implementation program for the Plan. Priorities for 2020-2021 will include assisting the community in being better prepared for emergency situations, including major shocks and events, and to withstand chronic stresses.
Before undertaking such capacity building right across the local government area, there will be a pilot program covering at least three suburbs so that results can be evaluated before extending to cover the whole community.
Further information
For more information, contact our environment team on 9952 8222.