Residents willing to chip in to save the planet

BY EMMA KEMP
A Galaxy Poll commissioned by the Greens has found that 69 per cent of people in NSW would be willing to pay an annual $25 council levy to pay for climate saving measures. The measures would include solar energy generation, bike paths and water recycling technology.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded 2,679, 000 dwellings in NSW in 2007, meaning the proposed levy would raise more than $66 million per annum.
Greens councillor Chris Harris said the poll shows that people are willing to pay in order to ensure climate change is dealt with.
“The City of Sydney has already allocated ratepayers’ taxes to address climate change, for example the Greens’ motion to buy 100 per cent Green energy involved spending of over $1.5 million per annum. So we are already doing it but we are doing so out of our surplus,” Cr Harris said.
“Other councils will not have a surplus to do things like this and so they may have to introduce a levy to introduce new climate change amelioration measures.”
But Cr Harris added that any projects should have clear and measureable greenhouse gas reduction targets and should be reported to residents on a regular basis so that they can see exactly what their extra taxes are achieving.