Sustainability in Kingston

Kingston’s community represent a diverse and significant opportunity to take action to live, work and play in a more sustainable way.

To assist our community to become more informed and supported to incorporate sustainability into their lifestyle we offer the following: 

• Free community workshops, presentations and webinars throughout the year, with ongoing access to past webinar recordings.
• The Living Sustainably e-newsletter provides sustainability tips, news, and upcoming events in Kingston to inspire action to live more sustainably.
• Schools support to embed sustainability action into their activities and programs.

Kingston is a member of the South East Councils Climate Change Alliance (SECCCA) - where local governments in the South East of Melbourne together deliver high-quality innovative projects and research to accelerate climate action.

SECCCA member Councils recognise that the transformational action and investment needed in transport, business, and energy projects are best achieved by working regionally and collaboratively.

Visit SECCCA to learn more about projects and research delivered through the alliance.

We support local businesses to reduce costs and environmental impact through practical programs, partnerships, and expert advice.

Key initiatives include:

• Energy advisory support - including energy assessments, electrification studies, funding opportunities, and guidance on how to take advantage of Victorian Government rebates such as the Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) program.
• Sustainable Business Awards recognising local achievements.
• Sustainable transport support to improve efficiency and reduce emissions.
• Sustainable business workshops.

Learn more on sustainability in business.

Kingston is participating in the Victorian Climate Resilient Councils (VCRC) program, an initiative of the Western Alliance for Greenhouse Action, which supports councils to manage and reduce climate risks.

The Climate Resilience Plan's vision is to leverage Council resources and spheres of influence to support and accelerate our community response to the climate emergency and remove barriers to change.

It establishes science – derived emissions reduction target for Council and the community and focuses on the following priority areas for action:

• support low carbon living
• future proof business and industry
• transition to sustainable transport
• draw down or capture carbon from the atmosphere
• adapt to the impacts of climate change
• transform Council operations.

We encourage all private developments to consider using ‘cool’ materials and colours in their design as well maximising green infrastructure. 

Council’s Urban Cooling Strategy for Kingston considers how materials used in the built environment and vegetation influence the urban heat island effect.

It builds on important work already undertaken regionally through the development of the Living Melbourne urban forest strategy and identifies:

• Actions to deliver on the vision: ‘A municipality with no urban heat islands. It is a community that actively manages the impacts of urban heat on people and the environment through decisions that encourage urban cooling’.
• Programs and services that mitigate and build community resilience to the impacts of urban heat. 

Melbourne City Council’s Green Factor Tool can also help inform your design to incorporate effective green infrastructure.

The Urban Forest Strategy aims to protect and enhance our urban forest, increasing our tree canopy cover from 12.3% to 15.3% by 2030 and to 20% by 2050. The objectives of the strategy are:

• Strengthen enforcement, controls and incentives
• Improve strategic and operational decision making
• Enhance communication and engagement
• Effective partnerships and advocacy
• Improve data collection, analysis and monitoring.

The Biodiversity Strategy sets goals for protecting, preserving and improving biodiversity within Kingston’s Natural Resources Areas including:

• maintaining and increasing vegetation in Kingston
• assisting in carbon emission drawdown and carbon storage
• providing shade and assisting with urban cooling
• improving natural habitats

Kingston’s Integrated Transport Strategy (KITS) provides the long-term direction and guidance for integrated transport and land-use planning across Kingston. It is focused on ensuring that the future growth of Kingston meets the diverse needs of our residents, visitors and workers, including responding to climate change. 

Key aspects of the KITS aligned to climate action include:  

• The prioritisation of sustainable transport modes (bus, cycle, pedestrians) over private cars
• Allocating more road space to sustainable transport modes (bus, cycle, pedestrians)   
• Installing bike lanes, paths and other cycling infrastructure throughout Kingston which link key public transport routes and destinations.  

The Integrated Water Strategy considers the issues and opportunities associated with mains water, stormwater, wastewater and groundwater, recognising the pressure on every part of the water cycle from changes to our climate and increased urbanisation. 

Aims of the Strategy: 

• Considers the opportunities that are available to Council and the community, in order to ensure that we use water in a smarter way
• Promotes water projects that are sustainable considering energy consumption, embodied energy, life cycle costs, carbon emissions
• Outlines the vision and steps required to achieve our goal of becoming a ‘water sensitive city’ by 2040.

Learn more about Kingston’s sustainable water management approach and projects, including the Edithvale stormwater harvesting and reuse project, the variety of raingardens installed in reserves and streetscapes, and more.

Kingston ensures Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD) clauses are part of our planning scheme. The clauses aim to ensure that straightforward and inexpensive adjustments to building designs occur early in the planning process.

All residential developments of three or more dwellings, and all types of developments with a gross floor area more than 1,000m2 require an ESD report.

We encourage all new development to achieve net zero carbon through the following basic principles:

• Only power the building through electricity (no gas), and provide renewable energy to power the dwellings   
• Maximise thermal performance of the building including maximising access to natural light and ventilation 
• Maximise energy efficiency of appliances within the building
• Ensure switchboard capacity to allow electric vehicle charging infrastructure to be connected at a later date
• Use an embedded network provider that can ensure net zero is achieved through offsets, if required  

For Council owned buildings the Community Buildings Environmentally Sustainable Development Policy guides performance standards for all new Council buildings, refurbishments, maintenance and demolition.

Recent changes to this council policy include Zero Carbon Council Building Targets and require alternatives to the use of natural gas to be investigated.

To complement Council’s tree planting program on public land, Kingston’s incentives to increase vegetation on private land include:

• Free plant vouchers for residents each year during Autumn for five native plants
• Gardens for Wildlife Program offers free onsite habitat planting advice in your garden and a follow up report and information booklet to help you improve local native biodiversity
• Nature Strip Planting Guidelines to allow you to utilise the nature strip outside your home (Council land) for planting, subject to meeting height and other planting specifications.  

Food waste makes up about 50% of Kingston’s household waste sent to landfill. Food in landfill rots and creates the potent greenhouse gas methane which contributes to global warming.

Food waste recycling for households in Kingston means we can accept food waste in Council’s green bin collection. 

Food and garden waste is then turned into compost at a commercial facility in Dandenong South. It is then used on farms, parks and gardens to improve soil.

Visit our Food Waste Recycling page to find out more.