Mount Barker District Council
Represented by Mayor Ann Ferguson OAM
How does your organisation address climate change?
Mount Barker District Council is situated in the Mount Lofty Ranges, a 30 minute drive from Adelaide. Mount Barker District Council is one of the fastest growing councils in Australia with Mount Barker destined to become the second biggest city in South Australia. The district is a mix of urban, peri urban and rural with many people attracted by the scenic hills environment and lifestyle.
Mount Barker Council has been working on climate change programs for the past 2 decades, although the urgency of acting on climate change was most recently highlighted in Council’s Environment Strategy that was developed in 2018 and a subsequent Climate Change Action Plan adopted in 2019. Council is tackling Climate Change by:
- Educating our community about climate change and what to do;
- Managing a major wastewater treatment and reuse program and establishing wetlands;
- Monitoring and reducing our energy consumption where possible - from our buildings, fleet and through our procurement policies and procedures;
- Installing solar arrays;
- Creating a climate resilient open space network by the use of appropriate species and by increasing the tree canopy cover through an extensive tree planting program;
- Participating in the Resilient Hills and Coasts regional climate adaptation planning;
- Declaring a Climate Emergency;
- Committing to a 3% annual reduction in GHGs;
- Focusing on the residential housing market and supporting good practice in new dwellings; and,
- Converting 85% of the Council fleet to hybrid vehicles.
What is your organisation doing to create a better future?
Focus areas in the coming period include:
- Building Better Houses of Tomorrow;
- City Catalyst project including a new civic centre and community facility;
- New aquatic centre;
- Mount Barker Natural Parklands; and,
- Summit and Totness linear park.
Read more about Mount Barker District Council's climate action plan here.