Power of the community

In terms of climate change, Charles Sturt Council shares interest with WACRA on AdaptWest – a body exploring climate change initiatives. AdaptWest is an initiative of West Torrens, Charles Sturt and Port Adelaide Enfield Councils in conjunction with the state and federal governments to set up ways for businesses, communities and the environment to respond to the challenges of climate change. Since 2015, our joint membership allows us to explore mitigation strategies (things that can be done to reduce greenhouse gases) and adaptation techniques (to address what can be done to limit the adverse effect caused by climate change). Globally, climate scientists have recognised that the best decisions on adaptation are likely to be made when local communities are involved in the process. Here WACRA plays an important role.

The council has just completed a trial of a product named CoolSeal. It involves painting the road with a heat reflective substance/coating that changes the road’s colour from dark grey to light grey to reduce the rise in temperature. With the lighter paint’s reflective properties it is possible to reduce road temperatures by up to 15 degrees. That means the surrounding area is not affected as much by heat generated from roads, and research shows the immediate environment can be reduced by eight degrees. We have started a streetscape renewal project where we aim to create cool corridors in the road space through widening the verge and growing more trees. In terms of the built environment, people are increasingly selecting to live in dwellings with little garden space, so it is important to create public green areas. It becomes critical in our contribution to heating or cooling our environment.

This council aims to engage with the community in an equitable way. Our website and Facebook page detailing community plans are up to date. The council’s organisational and management plans are given on our website (www.charlessturt.sa.gov.au). The process of having a voice on Your Say Charles Sturt or making a deputation to council are clear. We welcome community collaboration.

Power of the community

Paul Laris

Why did I become involved with WACRA? There are things happening in the world that I am not very happy about. However, while there is little I can do at a global level, I can possibly make a difference at a local level. Actually, engaging at a local level has a lot of advantages for me. For a start, the convenience of being able to engage without having to travel long distances. There is the added bonus of social interaction and social engagement with local people, which is a fine thing for identity and security within your community. It enables you to feel that you are actually doing something. Notwithstanding the fact that mostly we lose. Even when you lose there is a sense of empowerment because you are linked up with people who share your concerns. Even if you didn’t win the immediate battle, you are involved in a wider socioeconomic matrix that is evolving all the time. That is the motivation.

When did I start with the residents’ association? It would have been in the early 1990s. Possibly 1993. The most significant event was the Save Our Beaches campaign in 1997-98. That was a glorious defeat. And I was around at the time of council amalgamations. We were concerned about losing our voice and about not being able to get our foot in the door in a much larger council. I also recall mobile telephone towers were a big issue then (and now).

Relationships with local government are important. It is not primarily about protesting about things we don’t like. It is about having a voice. It is about being involved in processes that impact on our communities. Council decisions affect us. Being labelled as protesters is an ongoing challenge. We are often seen as being the opposition. And it has been very difficult to try and change Charles Sturt Council’s perception of us towards seeing us as a partner. We have always struggled with that. We would like council to be receptive to working with us, and in recent years we have managed to build a more collaborative relationship.

I talked about being a voice for the local community, so how do we decide on what will be a WACRA issue? It depends on the issue. The more passion that is raised by the community, the more likely it will gather momentum and deliver desirable outcomes. But pragmatic decisions need to be made. We ask whether our actions can make a difference. Making alliances with other groups is often a consideration. Joining with other community groups tends to increase the impact. However, we must give priority to local issues.

Sometimes issues that are not specifically related to our geographic community are placed on WACRA’s agenda. It was our decision to be part of the Anti-Poverty Network South Australia. We were also part of the campaign to raise unemployment benefits through Newstart allowance. Taking the initiative to inform council, we hoped for support for these campaigns. We were unsuccessful, although along the way, we fostered alliances with other organisations. Organising speakers to talk to council about issues of concern is regularly part of WACRA’s role.

The other question is how thin do we want to spread ourselves? What resources are required? Do we have the energy, capacity, skills and knowledge to take on this issue in an effective way? Sometimes we must acknowledge that we do not have the wherewithal to take it on. We question how narrow and deep – or broad and shallow – we go, and it comes back to the human resources in the association. How many people do we have and how do we share the load? We have a list of issues but how well it is maintained is another question.

We don’t take on climate change or environment topics as an association unless they impact on us locally. Water resource management has been on the agenda: the Murray River and the whole question of water resources in South Australia. Tackling a broader environmental issue is taken on when we can see that something can be achieved at a local level. Several of our members were involved in the AdaptWest Climate Change Adaptation Plan, developed collaboratively by the cities of Charles Sturt, Port Adelaide Enfield and West Torrens. Its aim was to identify:

the real and specific implications of climate change; and provide realistic strategies for residents, businesses, organisations and agencies of our western community to get ready, to respond and build resilience to the present and future challenges of climate change’ (www.adaptwest.com.au/).

A good example of a WACRA initiative was the Energy Friends movement. In an effort to improve energy use efficiency and reduce household bills, in June 2002 we invited and trained our members to do home energy audits. Once trained, volunteers undertook home energy audits in our local areas. Many households were audited, and outcomes indicated that our objectives to reduce cost and usage had been met. Later WACRA joined forces with several other community bodies and local churches and ‘we’ became the Western Region

Energy Action Group (WREAG). With our permission, the SA Government’s Retailer Energy Efficiency Scheme took over this program several years later. In 2019, the SA Government still offers a free home energy assessment and energy saving products.

We have applied for small grants and received community project funding for at least four public artworks. One public art project completed was a mosaic Sea Creature Trail along the Esplanade. With funding secured, two artists from Sea House at Glenelg were paid to work with interested community members. Alongside 80 local families, we collaboratively installed 30 mosaics on the rock wall between Henley Square and Marlborough Street at Henley Beach. At the Esplanade at the top of Grange Road you will find a sea eagle. On the banks of the River Torrens near the bridge on Henley Beach Road a pathway has been created using mosaics on stepping stones. In addition to its public art relevance, these mosaics introduce educative elements showing birds, plants, animals and creatures which once thrived in these habitats. The feature piece is the platypus. Our aim was to make the water in the River Torrens clean enough for the platypus to return to its natural environment. At the Torrens Outlet, you will find Bernie and June, two life-sized pelicans. Bernie and June were two local beachmongers well known in our local community.

Working with other organisations is recognised as a strength in community development. Engagement with the Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Region worked for both organisations. We drew attention to the Torrens Outlet to the sea (Breakout Creek wetlands). Our initiative increased support for their agenda for managing, protecting and restoring, if possible, the river’s natural resources.

Another cooperative venture was WACRA and Charles Sturt Council supporting Rick Whitehead’s Hearty Henley project (he was awarded an Australia Day recognition 26 January 2019). Rick Whitehead lobbied both organisations to secure a defibrillator – the lifesaving device now permanently located at Henley Square. If used correctly and within the first three to five minutes, it can more than double the chance of survival of a person having a cardiac arrest.

We regularly have representation on decision-making bodies. One recent venture was the redevelopment of Henley Square (2014-15). During the planning process we made sure that people with a disability would be able to reach and enjoy the beach. We argued for a ramp and eventually one was provided.

History of WACRA aside, one of the current issues is dredging. With the oversight of the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), the South Australian Government approved a plan in May 2018 to widen the Port Adelaide shipping channel and dump the dredged waste in Gulf St Vincent. Port Adelaide is a tidal port, South Australia’s main seaport and a gateway for trade, when nearly 95% of South Australia’s exports and imports are carried by large container ships. Port Adelaide also includes the Port Adelaide Passenger Terminal. It is estimated that approximately 60 cruise ships will visit South Australia in 2019. The current Outer Harbor shipping channel size suits the ‘Panamax class’ of vessel which measures 294 metres in length and 32 metres at its widest point. Flinders Ports, the company who operates all South Australian ports, wants to receive wider vessels, known as ‘PostPanamax’. The commercial imperative is great.

As Peter Schultz explains, there is an historical component to this. In 2005 the shipping channel was deepened, a construction for the movement of shipping, and now extends approximately 12 kilometres into Gulf St Vincent. The existing channel was deepened from a depth of 12.2 metres at low tide to the current depth of 14.2 metres. The dredging technology used in 2005 produced a lot of silt and sediment. The water was turbid for quite a long time. Monitoring of the water quality was done by groups that included WACRA. We produced evidence that dredged materials had polluted Gulf St Vincent, killing seagrasses.

There continues to be significant environmental/ecological concern with dredging. For instance, the Port Adelaide River extends from West Lakes to the old (1836) maritime town of Port Adelaide and through to Outer Harbor. Within this 10,000-year-old mangrove forest area lies the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary, home to about 30 wild bottlenose dolphins. The Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary Action Group comprises people who will actively monitor the situation. We have provided submissions to the EPA and Flinders Ports arguing for a lower impact approach. We have had some success, but still have major concerns.

In 2019, WACRA’s role, alongside many other interested bodies such as the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary Action Group, fishing and recreational industries and Friends of Gulf St Vincent, is to ensure that dredging methods cause the least harm. Our various interest groups are talking with the EPA and Flinders Ports. We want to ensure that licence conditions are stringent, that limits are set on turbidity, seagrass health is examined, and that Flinders Ports has monitoring, recording and reporting systems in place. When levels of pollution increase, we want plans to reduce turbidity implemented and evaluated. The EPA is currently receiving submissions from us and other stakeholders. The widening of the canal and dredging will occur. Our role is to scrutinise the licence when it is released by the EPA.

How do we communicate? The media tends to come to us. We are reactive in that sense. We rarely seek them out. In a 24/7 news cycle, media organisations have staff; we don’t have those resources. Besides, the media likes adversarial stories. When I am approached by the media it is usually about something Charles Sturt Council wants to initiate. And when I say I agree with council, there is not a story in it for them. Using Twitter occasionally might be useful. One of our WACRA members, Anne Wheaton, deals brilliantly with Facebook.

What pleases me most is the network of people in and around WACRA. This group shares my concerns, interests and values. In terms of changes and impacts on the wider world, I was really happy about saving Henley Beach Library. And related to that achievement is gaining a more cooperative relationship with Charles Sturt Council. I believe our relationship with council should be as a critical friend. I see real value in that, and I hope council does as well. We now have a more productive relationship with council than we did in the past. The network of people is the drawcard for living at Henley Beach, even with sea levels rising and increased noise pollution.

Understanding the sociopolitical context is obviously crucial in guiding WACRA decisions. WACRA has wide community networks and our membership combines a variety of skills, backgrounds and interests. We are intelligent people who observe the pursuit – and sometimes the abuse – of power around us. For instance, people appointed to council may aspire to further roles in state government and so on. Their decisions on issues may not be evidence based or led by community interests but politically expedient in terms of their own

career interests. Those agendas distort what should be a community-based process. WACRA has a role to counter such tendencies.

As discussed in the introductory pages of this book, I’d like WACRA to be seen by people in our geographic community as a resource for them. It’s about being a tool of influence, enabling people to be engaged in the process of decisions that are made about their lives at the local and state levels of government. At the moment we are a small group of motivated people who enjoy being involved and sharing values and so forth, but we are not a broadbased group. While we have over 300 members and supporters, we need to expand our base. We need to engage with younger people. If there is an issue, people could talk to government and consider talking to us as well. It happens at WACRA general meetings. People stand up and talk about an issue that is bothering them. It would be good if we could broaden that so that people can approach us not only about a multi-storey development in their backyard but also about an idea they might have to improve life in our community, such as creating a safer play area for kids, or whatever it might be. We could be part of the solution or play a catalyst or brokerage role.

WACRA taking it to the streets – David Schofield (L) and Paul Laris (R) holding the banner