Mayoral Column – Community embraces SunSmart

Wednesday, 1 April 2026

Penrith City Council sends a special shout out to the hundreds of community members who engaged with us for our recent SunSmart campaign, as we strive to create an even more resilient and liveable City.

Council works hard to strengthen community resilience and make positive, sustainable changes in our community and to the environment that will support current and future generations.

These ongoing efforts to demonstrate leadership and build community capacity are set out in Council’s Resilient Penrith Action Plan 2021-2030.

We achieve this in many ways - from actions that improve the health and wellbeing outcomes for residents, to activities that increase community knowledge around emergency preparedness. There is lots happening, including Council’s enduring programs to address urban heat and cool the city.

Council’s just-wrapped SunSmart campaign is a great example of an engaging and impactful initiative. Australia has one of the world’s highest skin cancer rates and this campaign started important conversations about ultraviolet radiation to help keep our community safe.

You may have noticed Council’s new UV meter along the River Walk at Emu Plains. This was installed to increase community safety, helping people understand when and how to seek protection from the sun.
We held 11 pop-up sessions at various locations and used a portable UV meter to show people how to read and interpret the UV index. More than 500 of you took the Cancer Council’s SunSmart Quiz, a skin cancer prevention tool, and many shared their skin cancer stories with us.

Council provided a natural, zinc-based sunscreen and more than 400 hats, encouraging residents to be sun safe. We also had extreme heat resources available.

To educate all ages, Council also ran hat decorating drop-in activities for children and SunSmart sessions at two of Council’s childcare services.

It’s reassuring to be part of a community that is so willing to make positive, sustainable changes together. Your enthusiasm helps to shape our ongoing initiatives that deliver on this vision for a more resilient City.

Visit penrith.city/resilient-penrith and cancer.org.au/sunsmart to learn more.

Cr Todd Carney
Mayor of Penrith

Information contained within this news release was correct as at Wednesday, 1 April 2026.