Yarra Valley

Exciting Announcement about Two Successful Appointments for our President, Jeff Barlow!

Appointment to YREAC! Jeff is now in a position to expand the scope of our work as an organization with two recent successful appointments. He has been appointed to the Yarra Ranges Environment Advisory Committee (YREAC), which is a committee that meets every two months to advise YR Council on environmental issues. This is an individual appointment for Jeff, in his own right, rather than as a representative of Healesville CoRE, but the issue of community renewable energy will be a major point of interest for Jeff on this committee, amongst other important environmental issues.

This appointment, which is for three years, will enable the issue of climate change and community renewable energy to be considered more closely by the committee, with a view to, hopefully, our work being supported to expand beyond Healesville to other towns in the Yarra Ranges municipality. The first business meeting of the committee on Thursday 2 May at the Council Chambers in Lilydale, saw a vigorous and energized discussion on climate change and renewable energy. Jeff also provided the Committee with a recently published Blueprint for how Councils can be involved with their community in transitioning to Net Zero. If you would like to read this document click on this link:

http://z-net.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ZNET-A3-doublepager_v3.pdf

Appointment to the Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership Corps! Jeff will train for three days in Brisbane in June this year to become an Ambassador for Climate Change with a commitment to personally run a minimum of 10 events related to climate change, within one year.

Jeff will bring back to Healesville, and elsewhere, the skills he will gain in Brisbane, to further develop the work of Healesville CoRE, and to expand our work beyond Healesville with support from our Central Committee and our team of volunteers!

 

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Tony Smith, MHR for Casey, Pledges Big Bucks for Healesville Indoor Swimming Pool Refurbishment, Solar Panels & Batteries if Coalition wins the Election!

$1.5 million has been promised for this work, according to the local paper, provided the current Government is returned to office at the upcoming elections. As well as the general refurbishment of the building, a new roof will be added, with solar panels linked to battery storage. Healesville CoRE is delighted with this announcement as it will reduce the pool’s huge power bills by replacing energy from the grid with free solar energy, with a consequent reduction in carbon emissions from the pool’s energy consumption.

Healesville CoRE was involved in discussions with the High School Principal, about the pool in 2018, but we were not able to do anything due to lack of funding opportunities. This offer is a great example of what can be done with solar energy in a small town, when the Government gets behind a project. It is a pity it has only been offered now, and only if the Coalition wins the election! But it is a step in the right direction and we applaud this initiative and congratulate Tony Smith on his foresight and support!

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Farming Solutions for a Changing Climate!

If you are a farmer or know a farmer, this event, run by YR Council at the Healesville Memo on Wednesday 29 May from 7.00 to 9.15pm, will be of interest. For further information and registration (which is required) click on this link: https://yrc.vic.gov.au/FarmingSolutions

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Floating

Did you know that solar panels can float on bodies of water now?

It’s new technology, and it’s showing benefits in efficiency due to:

  • water cooling the panels
  • reduction in unwanted algae
  • slower water evaporation
  • space savings
  • cost savings

Healesville CoRE and others are watching this development closely.

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Energy Stress in Healesville?

 

Perhaps technologies that save, store or produce energy would help your household.    What do you need?

  • Money?
  • Knowledge?
  • Time?
  • People?
  • Control?

Don’t we all!  A new report by the Australian Council of Social Service, the  Brotherhood of St Laurence and The Climate Institute talks about empowering families to access affordable clean energy.

Let HealesvilleCoRE know your biggest energy worries and together we can start to fix them.

…and of course, ask our government to help…because rolling back support for renewables isn’t so smart.

 

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