Give us your best GRIN
Randwick City Council's GReen INnovation Competition
We want your best everyday environmental ideas and suggestions for a greener and more sustainable future for the City of Randwick.
Perhaps you have an idea that helps save water or energy or reduces waste. Perhaps you're already taking your own steps to reduce the use of your car, re-use plastic bags or reduce the amount of packaging material you take home in your shopping. It doesn't matter whether your idea is for the home, your school or workplace, we'd love to hear from you.
Send in your Best GRIN to Randwick City Council's Team Eco and every quarter all the suggestions will be reviewed by a team of sustainability experts. All winners and highly commended award winners will receive a special prize and their idea may become a reality!
Visit Randwick City Council's website for more details.
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Comments (3)
Greetings Randwick City Council's Team Eco,
I would like to suggest that the best thing the Council can do to create a sustainable household is to extend it's Sustainable Home Makeover Rebate Scheme indefinitely. In addition, removing impediments to quick installation of rainwater tanks that need to located in the front yard, as in my case, is essential.
I consider it a badge of honour to have a visible rainwater tank which is an example to my neighbourhood and yet I have to pay $200 for a DA and wait at least one month and then wait another month to get the tank installed. This means I can't get the $900 grant as it ceases on June 30. This also means that we can't afford it.
So, Randwick City Council's Team Eco, please lobby the council to spend more of it's Randwick Council's 'Sustaining Our City' 6% levy initiative on delivering practical sustainable support to households long after June 30. While I applaud the efforts of the council thus far, to end the rebate scheme on June 30 would cause the comunity to doubt on it's claims of being a green council.
Most of the initiatives outlined in the <http://www.randwick.nsw.gov.au/Looking_after_our_environment/Sustaining_our_city/Projects/Environmental_levy/index.aspx>key projects statement will have been completed by now since the five year period ends this year, thus freeing up funds to support ratepayers sustainably retrofitting their homes.
I look forward to your reply. :-)
Absolutely, we need to retain the rebates we have beyond June 30 and into the next decade. In fact we need a whole suite of rebates and incentives to encourage as many Green Ambassadors as we can throughout the neighbourhoods of Randwick. We subsidise the biggest waste producers what about a leg up for those who are trying to be part of the solution. It is absolutely ridiculous that residents who are prepared to be green 'pioneers' should be slugged with DA fees to put in a tank. How crazy!! Council needs to provide long-term certainty for residents and for local businesses that are already in the Green industry or are considering entering. I also think there should be more links established with local businesses - why not allow those who specialise in sustainable makeovers to list on the website.
I support the above two comments. Randwick Council quite rightly encourages its residents to implement environmentally sustainable measures and yet, inexplicably, for underground water tanks, places the most ridiculous barriers in our way. A DA costing time and money was required as excavation greater than 1m in depth was required. And yet a swimming pool, ordinarily requiring excavation greater than 1m, required no such DA. It was complying development. So Council was penalising those trying to save water, but letting off the hook those wanting to waste water through evaporation. Despite persistent representations to Council re their policy anomaly, no satisfactory answer or undertaking to resolve the inconsistency was given. Furthermore, even after the release of the recent NSW General Exempt Development Code, Council staff were still advising me I needed a DA for an underground tank. That they didn't refer to the State Code and the fact that it takes precedence over Council policy, may even be considered negligent. I would strongly advise anyone considering installing a water tank to examine the NSW General Exempt Development Code. Providing certain conditions are met, this Code allows me to install my 10,000 litre underground water tank in my front yard without Council approval. And front yard it has to be, as this area is the lowest part of my block which, as any water technical expert will tell you, is the optimal site for an underground tank. I hope this information helps others.
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