Updated on Monday, November 23, 2009 at 10:42AM by stevem

A Forty per cent increase in Sydney’s population over the next 20 years means the State Government has no option but to open up scores of suburbs for new developments, according to a radical proposal for Sydney to build 640,000 new dwellings. The Urban Renewal Action Plan compiled by major property companies argues a complete change to the way planning is done is Sydney is essential if the city is to cope with the explosion in population. In a document just provided to the Government, the NSW Property Council says the city is running out of old industrial sites like those in Alexandria and Pyrmont as areas for new housing and Sydney must move to a new, more difficult phase where there is large-scale development close to existing and new transport routes……. …..the Urban Renewal Commission would also have powers to compulsorily acquire land, some of which could be sold to developers for urban renewal projects and part retained for public use. Release of the Property Council’s proposals comes as the Government is preparing to announce a review of the five-year-old Metropolitan Strategy, the main planning document to guide development of the city.

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IT’S a battle that for a long time looked like being carried alone by the Sunshine Coast. Capacity, its true meaning and measure, is a concept with which many understandably struggle. Only 35 years ago, when there was plenty of everything here other than population, opportunity and profit, many were blinkered to the long-term costs of failing to properly plan for growth. How different and more liveable would the high-density Alexandra Headland strip have been if the council of the day had found the meagre $1 million needed in the late 1980s to secure for parkland the mainly vacant land that stretched from Tantula Road down to Alexandra Parade. How much smarter to have left that coast road as a link to foreshore parks and parking rather than turning it into the drag strip it is today.

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Important invitation For QLD Members, Professor Bob Carter talks to Rural QLD - Rockhampton, Roma & Clermont. You can help by attending, bring a friend and email this invitation to your contacts Time: October 6, 2009 from 7pm to 9:30pm Location: Rockhampton Leagues Club Organized By: Agmates, Australian Climate Science Coalition & Property Rights Australia

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The refusal of developing nations to sign up to a climate change deal overshadowed an agreement between rich nations to limit the rise in global average temperatures. G8 leaders meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, agreed for the first time to work to prevent global temperatures rising by more than two degrees Celsius. The summit also agreed that developed economies should aim to cut their carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. The agreement will force G8 economies to make significant changes in the way they operate to meeting that target. Gordon Brown hailed the G8 statement on climate change as “historic” and a precursor to global climate change talks in Copenhagen in December. “We have laid the foundations for a Copenhagen deal that is effective,” he said. But the deal was marred by the failure of fast-growing Asian nations to sign up. The G8 had wanted them to agree to cut their carbon output by 50 per cent in the same time. However, the 50 per cent carbon targets faced resistance from India and China, which argued that the targets would hamper their economic growth.

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Updated on Saturday, June 6, 2009 at 02:01PM by stevem

Laws aimed at tackling global warming could cost every family in Britain a staggering £20,000 - double the original forecast. Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband admitted the bill for introducing legislation to cut greenhouse gases had soared from £205billion to £404billion between now and 2050. But in figures quietly released to Parliament, the Cabinet minister claimed the benefits to the UK would be more than £1trillion - a tenfold increase on the £110billion predicted last year. Last night Mr Miliband was accused of entering ‘Alice in Wonderland territory’ with the figures in an attempt to stifle concern about the price of bringing in the Climate Change Act.

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Last week’s heavy downpour which exposed the realities of floodplain existence to a new generation of residents should have been the planning wake up call the state government needed. Put simply 40 years or even 30 years ago it didn’t matter so much if a cyclone slammed into the Coast or an east coast low filled the floodplains with water. The population was less dense, for the most part was confined to higher ground, and where it wasn’t homes were built up to ensure living areas sat above known flood heights. Today is a different story. The exponential growth of the past 30 years has put tens of thousands of families onto areas that are recognized as being vulnerable to factors like flooding and storm surge. Little can be done to change that other than to recognize danger in times of severe weather events and to act accordingly.

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SEWAGE has long had an image problem. But an Australian water management expert can foresee a time when the humble waste water treatment plant is heralded as a key weapon to combat the effects of climate change. Water Services Association of Australia executive director Ross Young said there has been a major shift in thinking towards using biogas from waste water as fuel in power production. “Rather than looking at them as waste water treatment plants, if you look at them in terms of green energy producers, you look at them in an completely different way,” Mr Young said.

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A NATIONAL report card on water providers has found Brisbane residents pay more for their water than people living in Sydney and Melbourne. And those in the Queensland capital have been conserving water at a faster rate than the rest of Australia because of water restrictions. At the release of the report on the nation’s water utilities yesterday, the Rudd Government and national water agencies said high domestic water bills were here to stay.

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Sunshine Coast Regional Council may walk away from $4.8 million in federal government climate change adaptation funding for a world-first rainwater harvesting and re-use project planned for a new 1300-home development at Peregian Springs. That will be the recommendation to the council’s ordinary meeting tomorrow after the general committee on Monday voted 6-5 to end the council’s involvement on financial and philosophical grounds.

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In its ongoing quest to reduce the emissions of gases blamed for climate change - and placate grumbling green activists - the Australian government has earmarked $17 million for research into how to prevent the country’s 120 million farm animals from emitting so much methane. The project, launched this week by Agriculture Minister Tony Burke, will fund 18 areas of research, including dietary changes, genetic manipulation and ways to control stomach bacteria to reduce methane production. As the animals chew, belch and pass wind, they release methane, while nitrous oxide is released from their waste. Both are “greenhouse gases” and are, scientists say, considerably more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2), the gas that gets most attention from global warming proponents. Among the 18 research projects is one that look into ways of reducing nitrous oxide emissions, through “manure management innovations.” According to Burke, methane from Australian ruminants alone accounts for about 12 percent of the country’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions.

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