May/June 2016 News

The government recently announced a long awaited Electric Vehicle policy package. It doesn’t contain anything substantial but will contribute somewhat to the growing momentum led by business, industry and local government. Our own Council for example, at Annual Plan time, has committed to purchasing 20 electric vehicles within 5 years as it replaces Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles at the end of their life-cycle. Change is happening, and in many ways, it is thanks to Leaders like ChargeNet, who (sometimes in partnership with lines companies and Councils) are building fast charging infrastructure around the country.

A Tesla S leaving Waitati in the 'Leading the Charge' EV convoy in April

This past month we have been involved in:

Submitting on the DCC’s Annual Plan: we urged greater action on climate change and were happy to see the budgets for implementation of the Environment Strategy and the City Energy Plan were at least retained (we had asked for them to be increased) and the commitment to EVs from Council (as above);
Progressing our ClimateSafeHouse project: we’re out of the starting blocks and have begun discussions with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, Cosy Homes, the Dunedin City Council, the Centre for Sustainability, Waitati and Purakaunui Schools. We’ve also been working closely with the Otago Polytechnic on web and pre-design of a relocatable home example;
Mapping sea-level rise, with help from the Otago Regional Council and Jonathan Musther;
Providing Home Performance Assessments, with demand from North East Valley and Dunedin City;
Continuing firewood deliveries, and;
Quality Insulation: more enquires about insulation from people who want to save costs and are able to install insulation themselves.

Work on the wind farm has been intense and is detailed in the Blueskin Energy column. The Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust is a charity working on creating local climate solutions together and while we have our office in Waitati, we work not only in Blueskin but in Dunedin City as well. We value engagement in what we do and have valued the community participation in the Resource Consent process but don’t forget we are also available on Facebook as Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust, on Twitter as @BlueskinPower and you can call 03 4822249 or call in to visit and find out more about any of our work. Our office is located in Waitati at Waitati School, our website is www.brct.org.nz .

By Scott Willis