News & Discussion: Adelaide City Council

[SouthAussie94]

Carbon neutral is such a misleading term and is thrown around way too nonchalantly.

The state government cannot be carbon neutral if it intends to export coal/iron into the future (hint hint...which it does).

Just because it is exported overseas does not mean that those carbon emissions simply vanish. What about all the cement to construct the Northern connector? Or any future road projects? What about mines that are being approved, effectively locking in the fossil fuel energy extraction for decades to come? What about all the consumer goods we consume everyday?? what about the Co2 emissions they took to manufacture and ship around the world?

Suddenly carbon neutral becomes much more of a fantasy than a reality...

Carbon neutral doesn't mean that you stop producing carbon, far from it in fact. Carbon produced is offset through planting trees, buying credits, etc, with this offsetting the carbon produced. The net effect is that the city/state/country in question 'absorbs' more carbon than it produces..

[Wayno]

I'm confident carbon neutral by 2025 means producing more energy in SA from renewables than is consumed in Adelaide city. The longer term (2050?) goal is probably the same - produce more renewables in SA than the whole state consumes.

[realstretts]

Carbon neutral is such a misleading term and is thrown around way too nonchalantly.

The state government cannot be carbon neutral if it intends to export coal/iron into the future (hint hint...which it does).

Just because it is exported overseas does not mean that those carbon emissions simply vanish. What about all the cement to construct the Northern connector? Or any future road projects? What about mines that are being approved, effectively locking in the fossil fuel energy extraction for decades to come? What about all the consumer goods we consume everyday?? what about the Co2 emissions they took to manufacture and ship around the world?

Suddenly carbon neutral becomes much more of a fantasy than a reality...

Carbon neutral doesn't mean that you stop producing carbon, far from it in fact. Carbon produced is offset through planting trees, buying credits, etc, with this offsetting the carbon produced. The net effect is that the city/state/country in question 'absorbs' more carbon than it produces..

In the last four years the planet has used up 15% of its carbon budget before 2+ degrees is inevitable. The technology to offset our emissions does not yet exist, so you are gambling that technology will save us/you/your family.

The buzz at the moment is around BECCS - Bio Energy Carbon Capture and Storage (AKA planting trees as you have claimed, though it is MUCH MUCH more complex than that). Unfortunately we do not have the land mass to capture anywhere near the amount of emissions we are running and climbing at right now. In addition, BECCS is incredibly energy intensive and inefficient. Any sane scientist will also tell you that all the renewable means of generating energy (wind, solar and even nuclear) combined could not meet our current energy use, nor as it climbs into the future as we cling onto the hope we can infinitely grow the global economy on a finite planet.

Carbon offsets are generally nowhere near what is needed to become carbon neutral, particularly as each dollar spent on a carbon offset only produces about 30c worth of actual, measurable carbon offset - the rest goes to risk for the company involved and the rest divied up between companies who trade the offsets. They are a great way to morally absolve oneself of the guilt that comes with polluting the planet though!

I feel like Professor Kevin Anderson, of the Tyndall Centre in the UK, should be mandatory viewing for anyone who thinks that carbon neutral actually means what is being claimed when governments bandy the term around without any knowledge of how energy works, the current predicament we face and the religious belief that technology will fix everything.

"The Ostrich or the Phoenix? … dissonance or creativity in a changing climate" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpbfGaKp4K4

And a great interview (part 1 at least) with Anderson explaining what carbon neutral actually means and the pipedreams associated with it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TenbHtJyh1s

[realstretts]

And here Nicole Foss in the first few minutes (if you don't want to watch the whole thing) explains eloquently what I stated above about offshoring carbon budgets - decoupling of energy from economics is not going to happen nor will it as we simply offshore our production of 'things' to other countries which take on our carbon budgets (e.g. jobs and manufacturing to China).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdNvmIf ... e=youtu.be

The result is we 'appear' to be decoupling our economies from energy production, but we are merely shifting our energy production elsewhere to get the carbon emissions off our books so to speak

[monotonehell]

The result is we 'appear' to be decoupling our economies from energy production, but we are merely shifting our energy production elsewhere to get the carbon emissions off our books so to speak

Standard business and politician accounting behaviour.

We do everything wrong.

[Llessur2002]

Vague but interesting. Or vaguely interesting. You decide.

Haese declares "year of delivery", flags major projects for CBD

Lord Mayor Martin Haese has declared 2016 a “year of delivery”, flagging a series of yet-to-be announced major projects for the city.



Haese is also backing an historic organisational overhaul of council and its administration.

Haese told InDaily that the council would deliver “major projects” for the city starting 2016, but continue to focus on improving city infrastructure.

“I think we can do both,” Haese said.

“I’m not in a position to announce many things at this point in time.

“But I can say that we have open discussions with government about … projects in the city which I wish to pursue in 2016.

“This is the year of delivery.”

One of those projects, said Haese, would be the development of state-of-the art north-south and east-west separated bikeways crossing the CBD.

Negotiations with the State Government on funding for the extension of Frome Street bikeway are in their final stages, and a memorandum of understanding on joint funding for the extension is expected within weeks.

Haese concedes that the council had become “consumed in micromanagement” about the bikeway’s design in 2015.

He and new council CEO Mark Goldstone said they planned to overhaul the way the council meets, and the structure of its administration, to allow better-informed decision-making.

They said the changes are designed to avoid the council becoming bogged down in the minutiae of city projects, and allow members to focus on longer-term strategy.

Goldstone told InDaily the council’s decision-making framework – in which elected councillors meet one week as a “committee”, which recommends actions to itself as the “full meeting of council” the following week – was “odd”.

He said there would be “significant changes” to the structure.

“There are definitely more productive ways that the council meets,” he said.

Goldstone said he wanted to “allow discussion, comments, and points to be made freely, so that you can get some conversations happening that make sense” during council meetings.

And major changes were coming, to ensure that the council is “a very mature, informed decision-making body”.

“That will lead us away from minor details, and (towards) more strategic policy issues, and that is where elected members can add best value.”

Last week, Goldstone unveiled his sweep-out of the council’s top bureaucracy, with all five council general managers to be removed in favour of four new “directors” who will require a “much different skill set” .

The new senior management team would “need to direct, and stay at the strategic level in the delivery of the strategic plan, whereas general managers tend to … get involved in day-to-day management,” said Goldstone.

Lower-level managers would then be “empowered” to manage their patch more effectively and to collaborate on issues that affect all areas of the organisation – such as climate change policy and the park lands – which he said were currently mired in “silos”.

Haese said the council organisation was not “joining the dots very well” between related sectors, such as tourism and the arts, and that the shake-up would help connect them.

He said the council could do much more to promote international and interstate tourism during the Fringe Festival.

http://indaily.com.au/news/2016/01/21/h ... s-for-cbd/

[monotonehell]

Wasn't he elected on a platform of stopping the boats... I mean stopping all expenditure and only picking up the rubbish?

[Llessur2002]

I think he was going to do the potholes as well.

[Norman]

There is an article about Waymouth Street on AdelaideNow, can anyone share it?

[Alyx]

There is an article about Waymouth Street on AdelaideNow, can anyone share it?

There is a simple trick to viewing any premium article on AdelaideNow.

1) Right click on a headline and copy the address.
2) Open an incognito or private browsing window.
3) In double quotation marks, search the address in Google.
4) Open it through the Google search results.

You will only be able to view the article one time per session, however.

[Shahkar]

Waymouth St set for $1 million revamp to increase outdoor dining area



ONE of the city’s busiest streets will be transformed into a leafy outdoor dining strip under a new proposal from the Adelaide City Council.

The northern side of Waymouth St — home to popular restaurants Bistro Dom, Georges, Press and Melt — would almost double its outdoor dining space under a near $1 million plan to widen footpaths, plant trees and add pedestrian crossings to attract even more diners to one of the city’s most enjoyed food precincts.

The redevelopment, if approved, could begin as soon as the next financial year and has traders excited about works which would stretch between Topham Mall and King William St.

The Adelaide City Council said the number of parking spaces lost would be examined with traders prior to the proposed redevelopment that is set to cost more than $900,000.

“It depends on the feedback from traders — we would certainly look at how parking, deliveries and taxi spaces are used and allocated in the whole street, not just the north side,” a spokesman said.

“Council has allocated $400,000 asset renewal of the northern footpath for the 2016-17 financial year. It would cost around a further $525,000 to add the maximum number of trees and footpath space.”



The council will investigate traffic speeds along the busy precinct, however the planned pedestrian crossing, similar to the one installed on Pirie St, would slow vehicles down.

“We haven’t explored a change in speed limits at this stage but we’ll consider the needs of the street holistically if the project goes ahead,” a council spokesman said.

Restaurateurs along Waymouth St are rejoicing at the proposal, saying the works will not only improve the atmosphere along the popular strip but provide up to an extra 20-30 covers daily for each eatery.

“It’s absolutely amazing, we’re very excited about it,” Bistro Dom owner Marcus Carter said.

“The frontage exposure for us would be absolutely fantastic and using that area for outdoor dining brings in a natural, relaxed atmosphere to the street,” added Racquel Kulerski, Bistro Dom restaurant manager.

“I think just being able to enjoy the outdoors with trees and a bustling outdoor areas — it’s like Sydney or Melbourne in one of their busy streets and you’ve got an amazing energy. People want to go where people are.”

While some traders have limited outdoor dining already in place, including Soonta and Jack Greens, the redevelopment would also provide valuable seating with shade from the heat generated by the large buildings along the street.

Owner of award winning restaurants Press and Melt, Simon Kardachi, welcomed the proposed redevelopment saying it would provide much needed atmosphere along the city street.

“It’s always been quite a barren strip so anything to soften the concrete — like planting — will be beneficial,” he said.

“Rather than loading zones and white vans it’s better to build the precinct up. This will all build the profile of Waymouth St.”

The council said the proposed redevelopment could kickstart further works off Waymouth St including its laneways behind the popular restaurants.

“We’ll be engaging the community on the future of the city’s laneways in March and April, and this will help Council identify priorities for all the small streets between North Terrace and the Central Market, including great little streets like Anster Street which really add to the fine grain of the city,” a council spokesman said.

The proposed upgrade of Waymouth St could be a case study for further works to be carried out in busy CBD precincts to introduce more space for “movement” within the city.

“With renewal work being due, this got us thinking about what else we could do if we aligned streetscape enhancement with this work, to add trees, a wider footpath, a better experience for cyclists, and just generally more space for outdoor dining and movement,” a council spokesman said.

“If the traders get behind this, it can be a catalyst for similar works on other streets where council is already allocating funding to renew footpaths and roadways.”

Lord Mayor Martin Haese said Waymouth St had experienced a renaissance in recent years and is keen to hear more from local traders on the planned rejuvenation of the area.

“Any opportunity to enhance any of the premier streets of Adelaide will be looked upon with enthusiasm on a case-by-case basis by the elected members,’’ he said.

[Waewick]

that is great news.

I use waymouth Street alot and given the excellent selection of restaraunts and cafes it is great to see the ACC investing in the area.

[SRW]

Excellent news! Adds to eat-street experiences in the city along with Rundle, Hutt, Gouger and Leigh.

[SRW]

Also from InDaily:

City to trial free motorbike and scooter parking on footpaths
Benison Siebert, 11 February 2016

Scooter riders and motorcyclists will soon be allowed to park their vehicles on selected city footpaths for free.

Free, time-unlimited parking spaces for scooters and motorcycles will be opened on designated Victoria Square and Light Square footpaths on Monday.

The Adelaide City Council nine-month trial will test the case for rolling out footpath parking for two-wheeled motorised vehicles across the CBD.

Central Ward councillor David Slama, who proposed the trial, told InDaily he wanted to encourage people to use the efficient, low-emissions vehicles in the city to give it a more “cosmopolitan feel”, and to help reduce traffic congestion.

Slama told InDaily yesterday that the number of footpath parking places would be small – only four to begin – however a council spokesperson clarified this afternoon that up to 50 spaces will become available on Victoria Square, plus 10 spaces on Light Square.

Continue reading at InDaily...

[monotonehell]

City to trial free motorbike and scooter parking on footpaths...

As long as this doesn't further clutter the footpaths.