Posts tagged ‘UHI’
All new infrastructure needs to be green – Merlynston Station carpark upgrade
The Merlynston station car park was promised to be upgraded last year as part of the state election campaign. Climate Action Moreland is following up with local Labor MP Lizzie Blandthorn to ensure the upgrade is done as green infrastructure.
Lizzie Blandthorn signed the Climate Emergency Declaration during the election campaign, so her support for the upgrade to be green should go without saying. We wrote a submission to her on 19 February 2019. Her office has forwarded the submission to the Minister for Transport for a response which, as of 9 April, we are still waiting for.
Update 28 May, 2019: A very lacklustre Ministerial response on Merlynston station upgrade (PDF), giving no timelines nor commitments over green design.
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Landmark Urban Forest Strategy adopted by Moreland Council
At the City of Moreland’s August Council meeting the draft Urban Forest Strategy was adopted. This is a major piece of policy for municipality wide climate adaptation and dealing with the Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE). Moreland’s urban forest also provides significant shade and cooling to the urban environment, carbon removal, oxygen, biodiversity habitat, and reduced stormwater runoff.
Much work from dedicated council officers like Alex English, Moreland’s Open Space Planner, and many others, have gone into making this strategy document important.
The extensive community consultation resulted in a record number of submissions (257) on this policy, as well as 77 people attending consultation sessions. The adopted Policy document will be available shortly from the Moreland Council website.
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Moreland Council receives grant for mitigating the Urban Heat Island effect
Moreland’s social heat vulnerability
Moreland Council has received $80,000 grant funding from the Victorian Government on a project to minimise the impact of the Urban Heat Island Effect on vulnerable social housing residents.
The urban heat island effect results when urban surfaces heat up much faster than rural land. With temperatures climbing due to climate change and more extreme heat events predicted, the urban heat island effect will magnify the heat health impacts on the population, especially more vulnerable people like the young, the old, outside workers and those with medical conditions.
The grant funding was part of $1.15 million to support Council driven projects across Victoria in mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
The funding will assist the Council’s Urban Heat Island Strategy that is presently in draft mode about to go to Council for consideration for formal adoption at Council’s June 2016 meeting.
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Consultation on Urban Heat Island effect Action Plan in Moreland
Moreland UHI Thermal imaging 14 January 2014 10am
Moreland Council have been working on developing a policy on mitigating the urban heat island effect. This is when temperatures warm up much more in urban areas due to all the buildings and roads, than rural areas. Climate change is causing temperatures to rise, and also causing earlier and more intense heat waves to occurr. Climate change also amplifies the urban heat island effect.
Moderation of urban heat island effect temperatures by even a few degrees can reduce substantial health impacts and improve comfort for residents in extreme heat conditions. Every year hundreds of ambulance callouts are made for people suffering heat related medical conditions. More people die during extreme heat events than for any other disaster, including bushfires. A 2014 report found that Melbourne, of all Australia’s cities, had the highest annual average number of heat-related deaths, with about 200 a year, according to the Age.
Research has shown that Moreland has a high social vulnerability index to extreme heat already, based upon demographic and social factors.
Moreland Council is conducting a community consultation in regard to the draft Urban Heat Island effect action plan on Tuesday 22 March 2016, 6 pm – 8 pm at Coburg Town Hall foyer, 90 Bell Street, Coburg. You can Register your attendance and download and read the draft plan. The draft action plan was approved for community consultation at Council’s February 2016 meeting with the intention of formal presentation of the final draft in April 2016 followed by formal endorsement in June 2016.
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Climate Action Merribek: people in Brunswick, Coburg, Fawkner and Glenroy wanting action on climate change 