Invite to Wills MP Peter Khalil to oppose Adani coal mine
Climate Action Moreland visited Wills MP Peter Khalil’s office today to deliver a letter inviting his public support for opposing the Adani coal mine. At the moment Westpac bank have anounced a more detailed policy on export coal in keeping with the Paris Agreement climate targets and transition to a zero carbon economy than both the Liberal National Party Government and the opposition Labor Party.
The Labor party needs to stop sitting on the fence and oppose the mine on both commercial and climate grounds.
Consultations on Moreland’s Draft Urban Forest Strategy
Moreland’s Urban Forest Strategy has now gone live for community consultation.
Alex English, Moreland’s Open Space planner, will be conducting community consultations including a presentation at the start of Climate Action Moreland’s next meeting on Monday, 22 May at 6:30pm – 8:00pm.
Please visit the consultation website to read the draft policy:
http://www.moreland.vic.gov.au/about-us/have-your-say/consultations/draft-urban-forest-strategy/
Community forums on the Draft Urban Forest Strategy:
- Wednesday 10 May 7.30-9pm ROBINSON RESERVE NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSE 104A Reynard St Coburg
- Thursday 11 May 6.30-8pm GLENROY LEARNING CENTRE 5B Cromwell Street, Glenroy
- Tuesday 16 May 7.30-9pm NEWLANDS COMMUNITY HOUSE 20 Murray Road, Coburg North
- Thursday 18 May 7-8.30pm FAWKNER COMMUNITY HOUSE 79 Jukes Road, Fawkner
- Tuesday 23 May 6.30-8pm BRUNSWICK NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSE 43a De Carle St, Brunswick
After the consultation process has finished Alex English will put together a formal report that will be presented to Moreland Council with responses to all the community feedback and any proposed changes to the strategy.
Modernising Australia’s electricity grid – CAM’s submission to inquiry
Climate Action Moreland has made a submission to the House of Representatives Inquiry into Modernising Australia’s electricity grid. It is reproduced below.
Moreland Says #StopAdani: outside Westpac then Commbank Coburg on May 12
CommBank, dump Adani, dump Coal. Photo: Julian Meehan
Climate Action Moreland has joined the #StopAdani campaign(1) under the name Moreland Says #StopAdani.
We will be holding an action outside the Coburg Westpac branch (482 Sydney Rd) on Friday May 12 from 12.30pm to say thankyou to Westpac for adopting a climate policy, while not perfect, effectively rules out funding the Adani Carmichael mine and any Galilee Basin mines.
(Facebook Event)
We intend to follow this with a protest outside of CommBank Coburg branch. The Commonwealth Bank still has no policy that explicitly rules out new fossil fuel projects including the Adani project. The bank has been silent on funding Adani.
After making our presence felt outside Commbank, we will march to Peter Khalil’s office (if he doesn’t attend).
Our aims are two fold:
- to put pressure on CommBank to publicly commit not to fund Adani’s coal project, and
- for our Federal Labor MP Peter Khalil to come out in public opposition to Adani’s coal project
We are seeking endorsements from local groups. Endorsing groups will be invited to provide a speaker at this event.
A peek at Moreland’s draft Urban Forests strategy
Moderating the urban heat island effect with summer temperatures and extreme heat effects increasing has become a priority. One of the best ways to moderate urban heat is through increasing the urban forest canopy. Unfortunately while public tree planting has increased, urban consolidation and development has resulted in a decline on private property.
Last Council meeting considered a draft Urban Forest Policy. The community consultation for Moreland’s Draft Urban Forest Strategy will run from May 1 to May 29. See Moreland Council Meetings page for Agenda for 8 March 2017 (from pg 98) for version presented to council or download it here (PDF 48MB) (This may not be final version)
We will put more details on our website and FB page when available. See a recent report on combatting the urban heat island effect here.
One of the issues that needs to be tackled is public education on trees on private property. A register of important trees is also needed. How the policy integrates with draft Urban Food policy regarding orchard trees is also an issue.
Summary (provided by MCC):
The draft Urban Forest Strategy 2017-2027, will guide the future management of Moreland’s urban forest, aiming to create a municipality where healthy trees and vegetation are a core part of the urban environment. The Strategy aims to deliver practical measures that guide the planning and protection of vegetation across Moreland. The term “urban forest” includes vegetation in both public and private spaces, such as home gardens, nature strips, street trees, balcony plants, rooftop gardens and green walls. It also includes public parks with trees, shrubs, grasslands and wetlands. In summary, the City of Moreland’s:
* Overall vegetation canopy from the urban forest is 14%;
* Public land contributes 5% of total municipal urban forest cover; and
* Private tree canopy has declined by 24% since 2005.
The Strategy aims for a 50% increase of canopy coverage within the public realm by 2030, through the strategic planting of larger canopy trees within streetscapes, parks and natural resource management areas.
Art meets climate change in Flow Exhibition at Counihan gallery
Looking for something to do in the middle of Brunswick during April to Sunday 21 May 2017? The Counihan gallery on Sydney Road next to the Brunswick Town Hall has the Flow exhibition in which artists engage with the climate issue.
The exhibition is part of CLIMARTE’s ART+CLIMATE=CHANGE 2017 – a festival of exhibitions and events harnessing the creative power of the Arts to inform, engage and inspire action on climate change.
Counihan Gallery In Brunswick is located at 233 Sydney Road (inside Brunswick Town Hall) and is open 11 am – 5 pm Wednesday to Saturday and 1 – 5 pm Sunday. Entry is free.
Are you joining the scientists for the science march in Melbourne?
On Saturday, Earthday, scientists are on the march, including in Melbourne. They are asking for science to inform public policy, for the media to take note and respect the science, instead of giving equal time to charlatans and deniers under the label of ‘balanced debate’. We have seen cutbacks in funding for science research here in Australia, and are witnessing a major attack on government scientific organisations with the Trump regime in the United States.
It’s time to take to the streets in support of our scientists. This march is in support of science and science research in all it’s various disciplines, including climate science.
Join us at the march in Melbourne, 1pm State Library in Melbourne.
Share on social media your #marchforscience pics to your friends interstate or overseas.
Hope you attended, the weather turned out just right for the march, with some eloquent speakers. Read the storify: Melbourne Marches for science and See John Englart’s photo gallery on Flickr
