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Sustainability on the agenda By Cr Stephanie Asher As it’s my irst column of the year for the Ocean Grove Voice, I wish all readers a happy new year. his is the month that many people create a to-do list for the months ahead. My fellow councillors and I have done the same but it’s not your usual ‘get it’ or ‘switch car insurance providers’ sort of list because our list includes … you. he release of our Sustainability Framework in February is very high on the agenda. All 11 councillors have publicly recognised and acknowledged that climate change action is an immediate priority. he framework ensures that everyone at the City of Greater Geelong is included in our response, not just the environmental management team. he response to climate change goes well beyond a focus on the environment and this is what needs to be recognised and understood irst. We fully appreciate the urgent need for action and also for a way to efectively manage climate change impacts. he devastating ire season we are experiencing is a sobering demonstration of what happens when impacts are not measured, monitored and managed. Using the sustainability framework, we’ll
develop a climate change action plan including new and innovative ideas to reduce emissions in our region. hrough the framework, action plan and a commitment to reporting our performance against global best practice standards, City of Greater Geelong can lead on this issue using a measured, accountable and transparent approach.
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We are focussed on sustainable, long-term solutions - Stephanie Asher
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Waste management is another critical topic for 2020. hankfully, recycling resumed in December with only minimal changes to what is accepted, ie no more coated milk and juice cartons in the yellow bin. But this is just a medium-term solution. We are focused on sustainable, long-term solutions, which is why we’ve released the drat Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy for public feedback until February 7. he strategy is all about how the city will reduce, re-use and minimise waste in the region over the next decade. Head to geelongaustralia. com.au/yoursay to contribute. Wishing you a fun and productive start to 2020.
Leadership required Bushire afected communities will, at some point, need to be rebuilt. he ires have caused such damage and destruction that they have created a ‘blank slate’ on which ire-afected communities can write a new future. With visionary and imaginative political leadership, ire-afected communities could leapfrog the current national impasse around climate change and energy security and re-create their towns as demonstration projects, showing Australia and the world what a self-sustaining, low energy and low carbon response to climate change can look like. he new towns would feature cutting edge technologies such as renewable, lightweight materials for home construction and insulation, small local combined heat and power (CHP) generators, automated ventilation, sensor-based lighting and much more. When governments grasp such opportunities, the beneits can be enormous. For example: • Denmark’s government funded research into wind power; by 2009, Denmark produced over half the world’s wind turbines. • Germany’s government funded research into solar power and required generous feed-in tarifs for solar power; by 2009, Germany produced over half the world’s solar panels. he question is: does Australia have that sort of visionary and imaginative political leadership? Patrick Hughes, Drysdale
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