NEWS DESK
Climate right for app to cut waste
Fest youth grants applications open
Stephen Taylor steve@baysidenews.com.au
GRANTS of up to $5000 are available to help celebrate young people, thanks to the City of Kingston’s Youth Festival grants program. Applications are open for grants to support events and initiatives for young people held during the annual Kingston Youth Festival, which coincides with National Youth Week, over 10-19 April. Kingston Council’s youth services team invites applications from schools, community groups, not-forprofit and non-government groups, young people and student groups. See funding guidelines at the City of Kingston Youth and Family Services website at www.kyfs.org.au or call Kingston’s Youth Services team on 130 36 94 36. Applications close Friday 16 January.
IF all goes to plan, a free mobile phone app developed by a group of Monash students could offer Mornington Peninsula residents economic, social and environmental advantages all rolled into one. Their ‘Sustain Me’ recycling app will make the Mornington Peninsula Shire the first council in Victoria to have a centralised recycling platform that allows residents to recycle more efficiently and effectively. Ultimately, this will allow the shire to reduce its waste volumes and increase its reuse of materials, extending the life of existing landfills and, potentially, reducing household recycling charges resulting in cheaper rates. Such is the shire’s enthusiasm for the app that it has contributed $5000 towards its development. Innovators Eleanor Meyer, of Parkdale, and partner Stephen Halpin, of Mt Martha, say the idea had its genesis in the 2013 Oxfam-Monash Innovators Program, when they and a group of students were given an opportunity to develop their own creative idea for a social justice project. Both are 24. “Our idea was the ‘Sustain Me’ app, an innovative mobile platform designed to engage people wanting to recycle with relevant information in a timely manner,” Mr Halpin said. The massive penetration of mobile phone use made it the ideal medium. Through extensive research, the team identified that Melburnians – and especially those on the peninsula
Innovators: Stephen Halpin with teammate Eleanor Meyer show off their sustainable app. Picture: Yanni
- recognised climate change, sustainability and waste management as “incredibly important” issues. “We found that they wished to act upon this and behave in a sustainable way. However, what stopped them doing so was a lack of accessible information in a convenient, easy-to-access medium,” Mr Halpin said. “Our team also found that, as a result of app technology, people were most happy to use their mobiles as a prime source of information, and so we decided to collate the wealth of councilspecific data with a free mobile app.
“It will provide individual notifications to keep the user engaged, and act as a unique platform between councils and residents, which facilitates a space for dialogue to occur.” This ‘dialogue’ helps users learn about what can be recycled at various councils – such as plastic bags – when to put the bins out and where they can go to dump rubbish sustainably. “There are lots of ambiguities out there about what can go in the recycling bin,” Ms Meyer said. “Broken glass is one: some councils won’t
take it while others will. It’s the same for bike locks: are they metal, plastic or what?” “We found it frustrating that people had nowhere to go to find out the relevant information.” The ‘Sustain Me’ app took 15 months – and 558 hours - of product development and research to complete. The team has signed a memorandum-of-understanding with the shire to partner in its testing and roll out. Renewable resources manager Sophia Schyschow said: “Mornington Peninsula Shire supports the development of the app that will encourage users to recycle in the most efficient way possible. “‘Sustain Me’ will tell its users how to simply and efficiently recycle whichever item they wish to dispose of [in line with] the user’s council guidelines and location.” This support means the shire could be the first council in Victoria to have a truly centralised recycling platform. “It gives residents the opportunity to learn how to recycle more efficiently and effectively,” Ms Meyer said. The group has recently finished its first round of testing and is preparing the free app for launch in the New Year. Pre-registrations are welcome on sustainme.com.au or via the Sustain Me site on Facebook.
Weather worries KINGSTON residents could win $100 by completing a survey on how to cope with extreme weather conditions including heatwaves, floods and bushfires. The survey is part of a joint project between the Kingston Council, Bayside Council, Mornington Peninsula Shire, Federation University and the Department of Environment and Primary Industries. Survey responses wil help develop a website to help locals identify and prepare for the risks of extreme weather events and climate change. See www.climateready.com.au/ survey for a chance to win by filling out the survey by Saturday 6 December.
Waste hub for wedge on horizon Neil Walker neil@baysidenews.com.au A WASTE transfer hub could be established in Kingston’s Green Wedge despite Kingston Council’s efforts to stop the area becoming “Melbourne’s waste hub”. Councillors unanimously voted to ask the state’s planning minister, whoever that may be after Saturday’s election, to consider a formal council request to rezone green wedge land north of Kingston and Heatherton roads from Special Use Zone Schedule 2 to Green Wedge A Zone. This aims to prevent more waste and landfill businesses setting up operations there. However, it has emerged that, dur-
ing the public consultation process, state government agency Sustainability Victoria wrote to Kingston Council advising the Clayton-Dingley area has been identified as one of several possible locations for a waste hub for Melbourne due to its “access to transport networks”. The Clayton Regional Landfill will close in 2016 after Kingston councillors decided not to issue a planning permit extension earlier this year. In 2008, a ministerial order allowed the Alex Fraser Group to conduct concrete crushing operations at a Kingston Rd site in Clarinda, against council’s wishes. At Monday evening’s council meeting, Cr Paul Peulich said rezoning the
area “will make it more difficult for concrete crushers to be established in our green wedge area”. “We want to see better open space for future generations and a better environment for our children,” he said. Cr Rosemary West welcomed councillors’ united front against concrete crushers, but worried delays “for over a year” to agree on the matter, left Kingston’s Green Wedge vulnerable to concrete crusher applications if the planning minister does not approve a planning scheme amendment before 1 June next year. Cr Steve Staikos condemned council’s earlier failure to write to the minister after several of his notices of motion - to protect the area north
of Kingston and Heatherton roads were defeated earlier this year. However, he is pleased agreement has now been reached between councillors. “I’m so happy that we’ve finally got to a place with this council where we can speak with one voice [on this issue],” he said. New mayor, Cr Geoff Gledhill, said: “Broad agreement on this issue has existed within council for some time - the challenge has been to establish the best mechanism to ensure this outcome. “This change will allow the land - some of which is used for landfill sites - to transit on to parks or more appropriate Green Wedge uses, which would reduce the negative impacts
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on surrounding residents caused by landfill sites.” Sustainability Victoria’s submission to council, dated 27 October, stated: “SV understands that Kingston City Council is aware of the proposal for Transpacific Industries to expand its Frazer Rd facility to a state-of-the-art material recovery facility” and “subject to appropriate controls, this area is large enough to accommodate a suite of resource recovery facilities”. Any move to expand Transpacific’s Clayton landfill site at Fraser Rd, also known as the Osborne Ave landfill, could set Kingston Council on a collision course with any incoming state planning minister over the matter.
SMALL BALLOT PAPER
Legislative Assembly
Donna Bauer MP
Carrum District
Liberal for Carrum 9772 4544
Number the boxes 1 to 5 as shown below
START HERE
and number every box to make sure your vote counts.
Strong Economy. Helping Families. Creating Jobs.
2
VERNAY, R
, Donna 1 BAUER Liberal
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KILKENNY, S
5
KELSALL, H
4
QUINN, M
Authorised by D. Mantach, 104 Exhibition St, Melbourne.
Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News 26 November 2014
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