April has been a busy month for Board members and volunteers with planning for our 10th Anniversary event to be held next month (Sunday 28th May) at the Eureka Hall, recruiting a Smart Living Ballarat Coordinator, making a submission to the City of Ballarat in relation to the Draft Council Plan 2017-21 and working collaboratively with other Regional Sustainability Alliance Ballarat members on positioning Ballarat as centre for renewable energy.
Peter Reid and Jane Lean have been working tirelessly on the New Energy Jobs Project and attended an interview with the funding assessment panel following submission of the application last month.
I would like to acknowledge the great job Joe Boin has done over the last 2 years in coordinating the Smart Living Ballarat program and volunteers and repositioned the service with its focus on monthly lunchtime workshops and its interactive display at the Ballarat Central Library.
We are pleased to announce that Tim Drylie has been appointed as a contractor to take over the role which involves sourcing presenters for workshops, liaising with BREAZE and Library staff, promoting the workshops and evaluating their content and attendance numbers.
Tim has facilitated similar programs for the Creswick Neighbourhood House will ensure that we continue to value the input of volunteers. This is made possible through the contribution of funds by the City of Ballarat to support the SLB program which also includes the delivery of World Environment Day and Sustainable House Day activities.
In recent days BREAZE has been active in the media with interviews on WIN TV News regarding advice to residents in home heating and energy efficiency last Tuesday before our SLB lunchtime workshop and last Thursday about the Victorian Parliamentary Enquiry into banning plastic bags.
On behalf of BREAZE I have represented our members at the launch of the City of Ballarat Draft Council Plan 2017-21 and at the Regional Sustainability Alliance Ballarat meeting this week in which the City of Ballarat sought feedback on the Urban Forestry Discussion Document and the Draft Council Plan. As Chair of the Regional Sustainability Alliance Ballarat I and our Treasurer Peter Reid will be attending the next Council Meeting to raise the need for the Council Plan to include greenhouse gas emission reduction actions and targets, climate change adaptation measures and support for broad scale uptake of renewable energy.
I urge members to attend a STOP ADANI RALLY that has been organised by Greens Candidate Alice Barnes this Saturday to take place in Sturt Street at the Town Hall at 11am. I hope many members will show their discontent with the support that the Federal Government and Queensland Government are providing for this ill-conceived project which proposes to produce the biggest open cut coal mine in Australia. If this mine proceeds, there will be no way global temperature rises can be contained to 2 degrees no matter how much renewable energy is used elsewhere in the world. The world is watching Australia and our children and grandchildren will remember this point in time as the last stand against runaway climate change.
