The Report on Community Gardens by Gerard Howard is being discussed at the Community Services Committee meeting on Tuesday 17 February. The meeting starts @ 6.30pm but the Community Gardens item may not be on until later in the evening.

People who are interested in moving beyond words and reports and taking some concrete action to establish a community garden in Ashfield should attend the meeting.

If you would like to join the Community Garden Task Group please email Anthony Lupi. We will be convening the first meeting of this task group after we see what happens at the Council meeting on 17 February. 

Anthony Lupi
Community Garden Task Group

Ashfield Council is organising a Bicycle Planning Forum on the 26 Feb from 6.30pm at the Ashfield Council chambers on level 3.

Ads will be appearing in the Inner West Weekly (Wed 18th Feb) and the IWC (24th Feb) seeking any interested members of the public to attend. Bicycle Planning Consultants engaged by the City of Sydney/SSROC Regional Bicycle Planning project have been approached to facilitate the forum.

Clr Patric Kelso

To move Notice of Motion No. NM1/2009

A ream of non recycled paper has a carbon footprint of 2.5kgs of C O2 equivalent. Recycled paper is significantly less, but still has a cost to the environment in printing, shipping & storage requirements.

Electronic business papers have no such cost, except for the power required for using the computer, which can be offset or purchased from green power sources, all councillors are provided with a laptop and scanner/printer/fax to facilitate communication with our community, this hardware alone is enough to start saving paper and energy. Every councillor who chooses to use E-papers instead of printed business papers is saving 90kgs of CO2e every year. As well as saving several litres of oil used to produce ink cartridges, and power the delivery trucks that bring the paper to Council.

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Opinion; Rob L.

The issue is an old hobby horse of mine - GreenPower.

Essentially it’s this:

• Green Power, i.e. domestic electricity supply derived 100% from renewable generation sources, can be bought by the members of Ashfield Greens.
• I buy mine from Energy Australia and have done so for the past 3 years.
  
• There are no contracts involved - I’ve checked again with Energy Australia - they are adamant that all a consumer has to do is call them up and they’ll put you on GreenPower, the 100% option. Call 13 15 35 - it’s that easy!
• That option costs me an extra 5.45c/kWh - roughly 30% more than the standard domestic rate.
• The GreenPower scheme is available down the east coast and is administered by the NSW Govt regardless of the energy retailer you select.
• All retailers are audited by companies like the one I currently work for to ensure that, overall, the consumers actually get electricity from renewable sources.
• Currently the major source of renewable energy is hydroelectric.
• The Rudd government has mandated a 20% renewable target by 2020.
• We can all help to achieve that target by shelling out just a little bit more and buying the 100% Green Power option.
• There’s a double incentive there; if we are paying more we are more likely to reduce consumption
• This way we are using the market against itself; we create demand they have to meet because of Rudd’s target and in doing so, by indirectly increasing supply, we help to reduce the cost per kWh AND
• We help to boost the likelihood of greater investment in solar, wind, geothermal etc, and;
• The City of Sydney Council is on 100% GreenPower. Why can’t we push harder to up the percentage GreenPower that Ashfield Council buys - not just to 3 of its buildings but to all its facilities?

My feeling is that Greens party members have a moral duty to buy Renewable Energy! This is a chance to put our money where our mouths are. If we are really committed to solving history’s greatest and most urgent environmental problem, don’t just make noises, put your hand in your pocket!