By Cameron Jewell 21 May 2013 — For a volunteer-based community outfit, the Better Planning Network knows how to pull the big guns. Speaking at yesterday’s community forum was a broad array of politicians and planning luminaries of all persuasions. Read More  
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By Dick Clarke, Envirotecture 15 May 2013 — Sweet vs sour, bass vs treble, regulation vs free market, cost vs benefit. Balance is the key for many areas of life. But Dick Clarke suggests current standards have the balance wrong when it comes to building in bushfire-prone areas. Read More  
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  14 May 2012 – Following are early reactions to the Federal Budget 2013 From the Property Council of Australia National Insurance Affordability Initiative The Government will invest $100 million over two years to reduce flood risk. The National Insurance Affordability Initiative will invest $50 million a year in targeted flood and other natural disaster mitigation measures, as well as establish a National Insurance Affordability Council (NIAC). Read More  
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By Katie Fallowfield, WSP Built Ecology 6 May 2013 — “Section J” or “JV3” are phrases that strike fear into the hearts of many in the construction industry. What is it and why are we fearful? Section J was integrated into the Building Code of Australia (now the National Construction Code or NCC) in 2006 applying to all Class 2 to Class 9 buildings. Read More  
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9 May 2013 — Sustainability and Heritage guidance sheets have been released by the Victorian Government to help owners of heritage homes improve energy efficiency and save money. The guidance sheets cover contemporary houses, 1970s houses, postwar houses, bungalows, interwar, Edwardian and Victorian houses. They identify heritage features and the costs and savings associated with interventions such as ceiling insulation, underfloor insulation, thermal curtains and draught sealing. Read More  
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By Cameron Jewell 7 May 2013 — Today’s Victorian budget has been described by the Napthine government as a win for infrastructure. The First Home Owner grant has been increased to $10,000 for newly constructed properties, in an attempt to breathe life the stagnant residential construction sector. The grant will no longer apply to established homes. Stamp duty concessions of 40 per cent will also be brought forward for all first home owners. The government has also committed close to $300 million... 
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By Cameron Jewell 7 May 2013 [UPDATED 9 May 2013]— A bill currently being pushed through NSW parliament and in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday would give the state government the power to suspend councils for three months and potentially longer. Introduced by NSW Minister for Local Government Don Page, the Local Government Amendment (Early Intervention) Bill 2013 would allow the minister to suspend “poorly performing” councils. Read More  
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By Cameron Jewell 7 May 2013 — NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard has released a “message from the minister” in an attempt to combat growing community unease around planning reforms. Read More  
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3 May 2013 — Lower than expected carbon prices will reduce the cost of Australia’s carbon pollution reduction efforts, says the Climate Institute. A recent Australian Financial Review piece indicated Treasury was set to revise the projected price of carbon in 2015-16 to $15, down from $29. The lower price reduces by about half the $6.7 billion of revenue previously forecasted. The Climate Institute has used the news to call for a strengthening of carbon reduction policies, claiming a reduction... 
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By Lynne Blundell 25 March 2013 – A TFE Special Report: We hear a lot about how Australian property companies are world leaders in creating energy-efficient buildings. And there are some very impressive green buildings and plenty of data to back this up. Pity about the enormous elephant in the room, then – high tenant energy use and poor tenant/owner relationships. Read More  
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By Tina Perinotto 26 March 2013 – The ultra sustainable Nishi offices and apartment complex in Canberra is perched on the Acton Peninsula. It has a direct view across Lake Burley Griffin, straight to Parliament House. For the Molongolo Group, developer of this project, one of Australia’s most ambitious, Read More  
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 26 March 2013 — A new funding relationship between Commonwealth Bank and Low Carbon Australia will help two companies, Radevski Coolstores and the Labelmakers Group, reduce their power bills. Radevski Coolstores, a family owned and operated business at Shepparton East, Victoria, is undertaking a $1.15 million refrigeration upgrade for its cool rooms. A major Goulburn Valley supplier of apples and pears to Coles supermarkets, Radevski expects to reduce its refrigeration energy bills and carbon... 
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20 March 2013 — The Victorian government has highlighted the economic opportunities of climate resilient products such as synthetic turf, fire-resistant materials and products for green and ‘white’ roofs along with the need for “government preparedness” in its first Victorian Climate Change Adaptation Plan. Some current fisheries sectors and/or regions could flourish, such as Gippsland, as a result of expected future fisheries for pelagic species, for example, yellowfin tuna and marlin,... 
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18 December 2012 — Victorian organisations were the big winners, receiving over half of the $39.8 million allocated to Round One recipients, of the Federal Government’s $100 million Low Income Energy Efficiency Program. Kildonan UnitingCare, a Koorie Energy Efficiency Project, received $5.5 million to trial and evaluate activities and strategies that address Victorian Aboriginal experiences of energy and water in Victoria. Read More  
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By Tina Perinotto 12 September 2012 – Landcom chairman John Brogden last Friday laid out an ambitious roadmap for the NSW state government land agency, soon to transition to UrbanGrowth NSW. The former NSW Liberal leader made it clear Read More  
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By Tina Perinotto and Donna Kelly 4  December 2012 —  We’re still building the biggest houses in the world, even bigger than those in the US, but thankfully they’ve stopped growing and apartments are now getting smaller. Our cities also now contain fewer under 25 year olds and more over 65s than previously, with older people working longer. Not surprisingly, we’re losing food growing land under the pressure of urban expansion. Read More  
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15 November 2012 — The Energy Efficiency Council has called on the Federal Government to take urgent action to further reform the electricity market after last week’s release of the Government’s Energy White Paper. Council chief executive officer Rob Murray-Leach said the Government needed to take more action on networks, energy efficiency and consumer protection to deliver affordable energy to homes and businesses and consult much more extensively with consumer, welfare and business groups... 
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30 October 2012 — The Federal government has announced new funding of up to $340 million for three energy efficiency grant programs for business, local government, households and communities. Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Minister Greg Combet and Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Parliamentary Secretary Mark Dreyfus  announced the funding on Tuesday, 30 October. The programs are: The Community Energy Efficiency Program – a $200 million program to help local government and not-for-profit... 
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By Leon Gettler 9 October 2012 – Queensland is at the environmental cross roads. Campbell Newman’s government has cut a raft of green programs and policies, ignoring longer term economic impacts. The question is, does the Newman government have the capacity to manage those impacts? Read More  
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By Tina Perinotto 5 October 2012 – Quietly, while hardly anyone was looking, the Victorian government has pushed through one of the most radical energy efficiency programs in Australia’s history. The big question is, why isn’t  every government in the country doing the same? Under the Victorian program, taxpayers will save around $1 billion in energy bills for their public buildings over the next 25 years. That’s $1 billion for schools, hospitals and so on that might otherwise... 
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By Donna Kelly 3 October 2012 — A report and case studies, commissioned by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and completed by a consortium led by AECOM, will help infrastructure investors, owners and managers make informed building decisions in a changing climate. The Economic framework for analysis of climate change adaptation options report, and three associated case studies, focus on the impact of climate change on infrastructure networks and coastal settlements. Read... 
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By Donna Kelly 13 September 2012 — Adelaide Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood certainly puts his money where his mouth is. The former urban planner, with qualifications in sustainability, has been in the role two years and one of his first moves was to dump the V8 sedan which came with the job. Read More  
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By Dick Clarke 12 September 2012 — The recently announced national register of asbestos risk finally raises this critical issue to something approaching that which it deserves. And yet its handling and disposal still has problems. We cannot underestimate the risk this material poses. One fibre can kill you. There is no safe level of exposure. These facts demand drastic protective measures, and while much progress has been made, there are still gaps and loose ends. In NSW, WorkCover controls... 
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12 September 2012 — The draft NSW Renewable Energy Action Plan, which aims to capture its share of a forecast $36 billion renewable energy industry, is open for public submissions until 26 October. The draft plan says it will position the state to grow renewable energy to support the national 20 per cent target by target “at least cost to the energy customer and with maximum benefits in terms of investment”. Read More  
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By Donna Kelly 11 September 2012 — The NSW Government’s Strategic Regional Land Use Policy, released on Tuesday, has given the coal industries “carte blanche” to mine across the state, environmentalists and farmers say. The government headlined its announcement of the policy as “protection for agricultural land and water resources”. Planning Minister Brad Hazzard said the package of initiatives Read More  
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5 September 2012 — Four greenhouse gas capture projects at landfill sites are the first offset projects approved under the national Carbon Farming Initiative. Two are in Perth at the South Cardup and Mirrabooka landfill sites, with the others in Darwin and Buderim. Combined, the four landfills will abate around 170,000 tonnes of CO2e gas, with three sites generating more than 40,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy per year – enough to power 5600 homes. Climate Change and Energy Efficiency... 
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4 September 2012 — Funding must be made available if the draft New South Wales Long Term Transport Master Plan is to evolve into a blueprint for transport planning, according to the Planning Institute of Australia. PIA NSW president Sarah Hill said the draft plan, which was released this week, needed to be integrated with the new Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney and in the forthcoming Infrastructure NSW report. Read More  
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18 July 2012 - According to The Greens the federal government’s green paper on food security released yesterday (Tuesday) is welcome but well overdue. They’ve got a point. By the time the words “coal seam gas” entered the national lexicon three or four years ago, it was already clear that securing Australia’s food would be  a challenge and an opportunity. On one front was looming fast moving climate change with the fear that wild weather and weird temperatures would... 
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11 July 2012 – Proposed sweeping reforms to Victoria’s residential, commercial, industrial and rural planning zones have been released by the Victorian Government and are now open for feedback. Key features include: the introduction of a Neighbourhood Residential Zone; new General Residential and Residential Growth zones; improvements to the existing Mixed Use, Comprehensive Development and Activity Centre zones; new and more flexible Commercial 1 and Commercial 2 zones; reform to support tourism... 
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By Donna Kelly 11 July 2012  – The South Australian Government looking to join Melbourne and NSW in offering Environmental Upgrade Agreements mechanisms. The state government wants to hear from key stakeholders, specifically from the property, finance and local government sectors, to comment on a consultation paper regarding the establishment of environmental upgrade finance. Read More  
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