Our group has not been active for some time.

There has been some email activity related to subdivision developments in Benalla. I have contributed some articles published on our website, https://www.bsfg.org.au/ecologicalsustainable-design-and-development.  (Refer previous posts on this page)

The Goulburn Murray Climate Alliance may have progressed their work with Councils on the Sustainable Subdivisions Framework, https://www.gmca.org.au/sustainable-subdivisions.html.
This project could be looked into again.

BSFG member Howard Bartlett, 0409504420 has recently drawn our attention to a paper from the Municipal Association of Victoria, Shaping regional and rural Victoria: A discussion paper.

This paper could become a catalyst for further discussion by the group as the paper considers
greening of streets and reserves, solar farms, council resources, and affordable appropriate
housing.

There has been a focus on Sustainable Subdivisions as if the answer to Ecological Sustainability
is found in housing. Personally, I think we need to look well beyond housing to achieve
Ecological Sustainability. I have replied to a few emails I received from some environmental
organisations, commenting they are not going to get anywhere until both population and
economic growth are reduced and stabilised.

This morning, I received an email from Friends of The Earth Melbourne about their campaigns.
An interesting one is SKAT Updates + 'The Koalas' Documentary Screening in Melbourne in June.
The trailer for the film is on Documentary Australia. The trailer mentions the koala will be extinct by 2050 as habitat is threatened by new housing developments. (Link to trailer below)

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Last night I attended a webinar on Sustainable Prosperity by Steven Hail from the Modern
Money Lab and speaker at the upcoming 2024 Swanpool Environmental Film Festival. His school at Torrens University of Adelaide is training Ecological Economists, economists who will consider the ecological impact of the economy and economic development. The pursuit of economic development with increasing GDP perhaps needs to be ameliorated by consideration of ecological measures, such as the Ecological Footprint, Carbon Emissions, and Planetary Boundaries.

​Peter Maddock

"Our group has had discussions about Sustainable Subdivisions. Many Subdivision Planning issues were raised and discussed within BSFG following the Dr Greg Moore talk on ‘Trees are major assets as the climate changes’ Wed, 22 February 2023.

A key document guiding subdivisions is the Planning Scheme and while the Benalla Ordinance may touch on Environment and Sustainability there is little detail on how these values should be implemented in subdivisions.

It would be informative to see what other councils are doing in this area. The Bendigo Council has adopted a One Planet Living framework to guide Ecological Sustainable Design in Subdivisions.

The Goulburn Broken Climate Alliance is currently running a Sustainable Subdivisions Project and their Environmentally Sustainable Development Advisor, Simon Blackwell, has commenced trialing the Sustainable Subdivision Framework in eight municipalities in the Alliance. This project has led to a sustainable subdivision in Indigo Shire. Although Benalla Council is a member of the Alliance it is not a member of this project.  However, Councils Nathan Gasperoni has advised that Benalla Council will be getting feedback about this project.

Existing housing stock will have a substantial influence on reaching Net Zero by 2050 so improvements here need to be considered.

The Footprint Networks Earth Overshoot estimates that in 2022 we required 1.75 earths to sustain the population. We are maintaining our ecological deficit by drawing down local resource stocks, excessive disposal of waste materials and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Our group is listed on the BSFG website as Sustainable Development and that its name, purpose, and activities are to be agreed on.

Two possibilities from the BSFG Review were;

• Engage and Work with Council on Sustainable Planning and
• Development Engage and Work with Council on Sustainable Retrofits.

Hopefully, we can soon define the group and projects and activities to work on."

Peter Maddock
Report Presented to BSFG AGM on 25 May 2023