New Environment Committee gets down to business

Hamilton taking steps to reduce the city's carbon footprint. Photo / File

Free public transport, community gardens and car-free days in the city are some of the ideas put to Hamilton City Council to reduce carbon emission in the city, as the council looks to lower its carbon footprint.

Last year, under Mayor Andrew King, Hamilton declared a climate urgency, rather than an emergency as many demanded, and undertook work to create a climate action plan to reduce the city's carbon footprint.

As part of the action plan, a community group survey was sent to the public seeking ideas on how to lower the city's carbon footprint.

A breakdown of the city's emission shows that fuel including natural gas, and electricity are the two highest sources.
The results from the survey show the public is interested in more community gardens and fruit trees, free public transport and car-free days.

The survey also said the council could reduce its own footprint by making buses cheaper to use and electrified by 2030, and stop spending money on private vehicle use.

This week, at the first meeting of the council's new Environment Committee, people supported the council's climate action plan, including Waikato student environment leader Hannah Huggan from the group that organised last year's school climate strikes.

She said the council needed to act with more urgency to address the climate concerns.

The new committee was introduced by Mayor Paula Southgate following the 2019 election, this triennium marks the first time the Council has had a governance arm solely dedicated to the wellbeing, protection, enhancement and sustainability of the city's natural environment.

Councillor Sarah Thomson supported Ms Huggan's message and proposed an amendment that was passed unanimously to set deadlines of April for council staff to identify carbon reductions that could be made by the organisation for this financial year, and June for the adoption of the draft action plan.

"I heard a lot about what can we do about our own organisation emissions and what we can do to show the public that we are acting urgently," Ms Thomson said.

"We already have all the data on our own emissions. We don't need to wait to take action, so this is saying let's come back in April with those suggestions of what we can do in the short term."

The council has already made some changes to lower its impact, which includes replacing Waterworld's air heating system with hot water heat pumps which have reduced natural gas use by 20 per cent.

The council's vehicle fleet includes two electric cars, one electric van and an electric compactor truck, while the council also has electric and pedal bikes available to staff for work purposes.

The council's new rubbish and recycling service starts in July 2020, which will mean every household in Hamilton receives two wheelie bins for recyclables and general rubbish, a food bin and a crate for glass.

By 2025 the collection vehicles will all be electric.