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GREEN BUILDING GUIDE
Similar initiatives in Ultimo and Pyrmont have added
450 affordable rentals to the city’s inner-western fringe,
while the Glebe Affordable Housing Project by Housing
NSW will see 20 new social housing dwellings and 90
new affordable housing units built.
When you consider that median rents in these suburbs
can be upwards of $675 per week – a whopping 45
per cent of the average Australian’s weekly wage – it’s
easy to see how important investment in initiatives to
alleviate housing stress are to Sydney’s resilience.
It’s encouraging to see that efforts to create
communities of economic, social and environmental
resilience are not limited to our capital cities. In fact,
this integrated approach is a key driver for the many
Green Star – Communities projects that have been
popping up all over Australia since 2012.
Take the 5 Star Green Star-rated Ecco Ripley
development in Queensland for example. Recognising
the need to attract people of diverse ages, professions
and income-levels to create a sufficiently diversified
local economy and a truly workable community,
developer Sekisui House made an early commitment
that one quarter of Ecco Ripley’s housing would be
affordable for first home buyers and key workers,
with a further 10 per cent allocated for accessible
accommodation and five per cent for social housing.
GOVLINK » ISSUE 3 2016
While government- and business-led initiatives
should be celebrated and emulated, actions for
urban resilience need not necessarily be large-scale,
nor funded by the public sector or big business. The
Urban Food Street in Queensland is a great example
of how relatively small actions can have a big impact
at the grass roots level, and how individuals can be
empowered to make a difference.
The residents of Buderim on the Sunshine Coast have
pooled their resources to transform nature strips at the
front of their houses into factories of fruit and vegetable
production. These street gardens are collectively
tended, propagated and shared by an active and
engaged community of gardeners.
Access to fresh, locally grown produce with zero food
miles attached is an obvious benefit for the residents
of Buderim. “No longer are we prisoner to the
relationship between the car and the broader social
and structural context of our urban environment,
which makes it near impossible to manage even the
simplest of tasks without four wheels, a road way and
an hour round trip,” says one resident. The community
is also reaping the rewards of enhanced community
collaboration, cohesion and care. “We always distribute
(our produce) to our aged, infirm and pensioner
community first, and from there we reward continuing
contribution and effort.”