2 November 2019

Conservation Council puts heat on Government for car-free day, gas windback

| Ian Bushnell
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Cycling

The Conservation Council wants roads money redirected to active transport such as cycling and public transport. Photo: File.

A car-free day, an Active Travel Commissioner and making new public housing properties all-electric are on the Budget wishlist for the Conservation Council ACT Region.

In its 2020 Budget submission, the council says the Government should acknowledge the Legislative Assembly’s declaration of a state of climate emergency and allocate all funding accordingly, embedding the declaration’s intent into all decisions.

It calls for the Government to commit to a separate annual Budget Paper on the funding of the Climate Change Strategy, and annual budget reporting on its delivery.

“The Conservation council identifies that the policies and programs which reduce the ACT’s emissions, and create a more livable, equitable and community-focused city with a secure climate future, are the highest priority in the 2020/21 Budget process,” it says.

As part of a needed shift to other forms of transport, the council wants the Government to fund the ACT’s first car-free day in town centres on World Car-Free Day, Tuesday, 22 September 2020, as well as create the ACT’s first Active Travel Commissioner to oversee initiatives and legislated targets for active travel and public transport.

The Government’s Climate Change Strategy 2019-25, released in September, said it would consider car-free days.

The council also wants the Government to hand over more road and public space to cycling and walking, to redirect roads funding to active and public transport infrastructure, and for all new Transport Canberra buses, including the 84 budgeted for purchase in 2019-20, to be zero-emissions electric.

With Canberra’s climate warming, the council says energy-efficient and low-emission housing should be a priority, especially moving from gas to all-electric appliances.

It wants the Government to upgrade existing public housing with efficient electric appliances, ensure all newly constructed public housing properties are all-electric and investigate the costs and benefits of decommissioning the gas network.

The Government should also help low-income households shift from gas to high-efficiency electrical appliances.

The council says the Government should mount awareness campaigns to highlight the financial benefits of climate-wise and energy-efficient housing and already-available programs.

It also wants a new energy assessment tool that adequately gauges the year-round thermal performance of buildings in the Canberra climate.

Taking into account previous tree losses, the council acknowledges last year’s commitment to plant 17,000 trees over four years, but says this will not be enough to cover the 3000 trees lost every year, and is calling for more money to not only ensure replacement but expansion of the tree canopy.

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This is about much more than emissions.

Long before light rail gets to stage three the majority of cars on the road will be electric and emissions free.

I’ve been an environmentalist and sustainability adherent since 1970 but i revile at the new green authoritarianism with religious overtones that seeks to control what people think by controlling what they do.

Quite literally I live in a town centre. If i want to drive to somewhere outside the town centre I’ll be trapped.

What is the Conservation Council and how is it different from the ACT Government?

I’ll choose when i drive and don’t drive.

On top of all the other proposals, they want an Active Transport Commissioner. There’s another 100K (minimum) wasted. I know that’s small beer, but it all adds up.

Gas is the only fuel that’s worth cooking with though…

Induction is just as good as gas and just as fast if not a little faster. Also much much safer.

I don’t see why some people can get so hysterical about one car-free day in a year. Crikey some precious little snowflakes out there. These types of articles always draw them out, with their self righteous indignation. Try and relax a little, go for a walk in a local park, play scrabble with the kids at home, chat with your neighbours over a cuppa. You don’t have to drive 24/7, 365 days of the year. Get active, get healthy.

HiddenDragon6:45 pm 03 Nov 19

“….and create a more livable, equitable and community-focused city…….”

Based on past performance, the “equitable” bit presumably means more of the usual games of selectively and arbitrarily framed subsidies, the extra costs of which will fall on many who have little left to spare.

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