One of the most important ingredients in living a fulfilling life is the state of our individual health and the general health of our community and natural environment.
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Being healthy is the first of four goals set out in the Community Strategic Plan for us all to achieve, and the first in a series I will discuss in my column in coming weeks.
Good health affects all areas of our lives. It allows us to do the things we enjoy with family and friends. It enables us to earn a living and be productive in the workplace; participate in sporting and community activities; minimise the incidents of preventable disease and recuperate quickly when ill-health occurs; and to enjoy a quality of life that we all deserve.
The second component to being healthy is living in nourishing surroundings and making sure our natural environment is kept in a healthy state.
Increased biodiversity improves the health of local flora and fauna. Healthy Macleay waterways are critical to the valley’s agricultural lands and community well-being. Increased pollution can have a negative impact on our environment and general health.
Council’s is to provide our community with access to our natural environment, along with recreational areas, sporting and community facilities, that encourage people to pursue active, healthy lifestyles.
We recognise the community taking part in healthy recreational activities improves general health and well-being, and the health of our natural environment plays a key role in this.
We also recognise a planned and measurable long-term approach is required if we are to improve the health of people living in our community and our valley’s natural environment.
Targeted goals such as: reducing the level of preventable illness; increasing the number of people engaged in physical activity; increasing the Macleay River and estuary health; are important to make the Macleay Valley one of the very best places to live.