Mildura Council’s climate change strategies get praise

MILDURA Council’s response to tackling climate change has been hailed as “comprehensive” by the man leading a statewide parliamentary inquiry.

A climate change hearing was held in Mildura on Thursday where the council gave evidence of its mitigation strategies in front of the Legislative Assembly’s environment and planning committee.

The success of Mildura’s Eco Village, new three-bin system and solar initiatives were some of the strategies presented to committee chair Darren Cheeseman, who labelled the council’s submission “of a high standard”.

“It occurs to me Mildura Council is taking the challenges of climate change seriously,” Mr Cheeseman said.

“This is a very hot, dry place and climate change I suspect will mean it will only get hotter and drier, so I think the council is showing a lot of leadership.

“I also think the council made strong arguments, not only in terms of what they’re doing and what they want to see for their community, but they made the case to me very clearly that there’s huge export opportunities around generating renewable energy and that will generate jobs.”

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Mildura councillors were among the witnesses who gave evidence at the hearing, supporting a decision they endorsed last month for the council to declare a state of climate emergency and take necessary action.

Mayor Simon Clemence and councillor Jason Modica took to the stand to support the council’s mitigation strategies, but cited grid connectivity as an issue they believed was preventing the region from reaching its solar potential.

Cr Clemence said up to $4 billion had been invested in solar for the Sunraysia region a number of years ago, but an interconnector was required from Kerang to Red Cliffs.

“It occurs to me right now there are huge opportunities in the Sunraysia and Mallee region to generate renewable energy, but there are significant limitations to that happening because of the state of the grid,” Mr Cheeseman said.

“Ultimately we need to invest in the grid so that we can deploy renewable energy, which effectively is a very decentralised energy system and we need to make those investments. I’m sure our report will touch on that.”

Mr Cheeseman suggested the report would also look into whether Victoria’s planning and environment laws were outdated given they made no mention of climate change.

“The point that has been made by lots of different local bodies is that the Planning and Environment Act as its currently written does not mention the word climate change and sets no obligations within our planning schemes to deal with climate change,” he said.

“If we feel it’s appropriate, we will make a recommendation to the parliament and the government to consider amending the act to include climate change.”

Mallee Sustainable Farming’s project manager Tanja Morgan gave evidence via a phone link, followed by Emma Walmsley who founded the 350 Mallee Climate Acton Group.

The committee also heard from Sunraysia vegetable grower Carl Young, researcher Sophie Appleby and chief executive of Mallee Regional Innovation Centre Rebecca Wells.

Following the hearing, the committee visited the new NRMA electric vehicle charging station on Orange Avenue and the Mildura Eco Village.

“An important aspect of this inquiry is seeing firsthand the innovation that is happening in regional Victoria and to learn whether local initiatives can have broader application in other parts of our state,” Mr Cheesman said.

The committee has been hearing from Victorian communities since September last year and will compile all the evidence in a tabled report to parliament by June 30.