Policies

Right now our city is not nearly ambitious enough on delivering the infrastructure to support active transport. The only way to reduce traffic and congestion on our roads is to provide people with viable alternatives to driving, and active transport is one of the best ways to do this.

The current cycling lanes popping up around the city aren’t enough. If we want to encourage cycling then we need to build a fully separated cycle network that minimises the amount of contact between bikes and cars. This will make cycling a viable mode of transport and give beginners the safety they need to become comfortable with it.

The Greens will:

• Recognise the significant potential of cycling for short to medium distance trips
• Widen footpaths with high pedestrian movement to allow both pedestrian and bikes to efficiently use them. This could include seperate pathways for pedestrians and cyclists along places like the Warners Bay foreshore.
• Prioritise expanding the network of separated cycleways to reduce the intimidation people face when cycling on roads with other vehicles and ensure that cycleways reach destinations people want to go to rather than just scenic routes.
• Expand the coverage of footpaths across the city to get pedestrians off the road, especially around schools
• Add street lighting to shared paths to make them a safe and accessible mode of transport at night

We are in a cost-of-living crisis, and local governments should be doing what they can to ensure that everyday people can afford to get by.

Locals are paying too much for essentials like food, housing, and energy, while big corporations and developers benefit from handouts. The major parties take thousands of dollars in donations from big corporations like Coles and Woolies, the big banks, the fossil fuel industry and the construction industry. The Greens don’t – which is why we’re standing up for solutions to the cost of living crisis at all levels of government, including on Council.

Most cost-of-living controls are in the hands of state and federal governments, but the Greens want to see Councils taking the small steps they can to make people’s lives easier. A vote for the Greens on Council is a vote to bring down the cost of living.

On Council, the Greens will:

• Provide free sanitary products and free sunscreen in Council facilities
• Support initiatives to bring down power prices with solar panels, household batteries and publicly-owned community batteries, with low-interest loans for installation
• Provide free leases of council facilities to local food banks, support services and community gardens
• Support Council-managed, not-for-profit early childhood education facilities, and push the state government to fund more publicly-owned free preschools
• Establish local share-economy initiatives, like toy libraries and tool libraries, so locals can share cost-intensive resources
• Ensure concession holder access to Council facilities such as swimming pools, tennis courts, cricket nets, basketball courts and skate parks

The housing crisis is breaking people, and governments at all levels are tinkering around the edges instead of making the big changes we need to address housing affordability.

Wealthy developers are profiting from unliveable housing projects, while we urgently need affordable homes for our communities. We should be building good-quality public homes that can be sold and rented cheaply.

Locals are being locked out of the housing market, and nobody wants to see our area become a place where only the rich and wealthy can afford to live. A vote for the Greens is a vote for bold action on the housing crisis.

On Council, the Greens will:

• Advocate for social and affordable housing components in all new developments, and agitate for more public housing from the state government
• Push for increases in housing density that will make homes more affordable and meet the needs of our communities, rather than wholesale rezoning to benefit big developers
• Support affordable housing for key workers, to address the critical shortage of nurses, teachers, hospitality staff and other essential workers
• Prioritise adequate infrastructure to accompany new housing developments, including more greenspace, public transport, schools, community spaces and healthcare facilities.
• Ensure environmental protection when considering zoning and development

Greens Councillors have a long history of standing up for the environment – often when nobody else will.

The air we breathe, the water we drink and the earth we walk on can’t be taken for granted. Developer interests are often put before the needs of our environment and our community. If we want to protect our natural spaces, we need more Greens on Council.

If you want to elect a voice for the environment on Council, vote 1 Greens.

The Greens will:

• Oppose ‘zombie DAs’ and suburban sprawl projects that threaten our natural environment. Our housing shortage must be solved with denser developments rather than large-scale land clearing.

Councils can lead the transition from fossil fuels to renewables. 2023 was the hottest year on record – it’s never been more important to elect Greens to all levels of government to push for further and faster action on the climate crisis.

Coal and gas corporations are getting massive handouts from the government, while recording record profits and putting up power prices. Councils can replace coal and gas with renewables, get homes off fossil-fuelled power, and lower energy bills in the process.

We know that local Councils are on the frontlines of climate-fuelled disasters, like floods and bushfires. We need to get better at responding to natural disasters as the climate crisis escalates.

The Greens will:

• Declare a climate emergency and ensure climate impact is considered in decisions the Council makes.
• Ensure the Council’s investment funds are not invested in high carbon-emitting companies and projects.
• Work towards electrifying all Council assets by 2032 (over the next two Council terms).
• Support increased usage of electric vehicles including introducing more EV charging stations
• Work with local schools to transition to 100% renewable energy, and support local community halls, facilities and sports clubs to reach net zero
• Provide free cool spaces for residents when the temperature is 34C and above, by extending the operating hours of libraries and swimming pools
• Support heat-resilient infrastructure, including by phasing out synthetic turf and ensuring adequate lighting for after-hours recreational activity

Everyone deserves access to community spaces and Council facilities. But right now, Council’s lack of action is locking vulnerable people out of our public spaces.

The Greens have a long track record of standing up for people with disabilities, older people, and marginalised communities, who are too often left behind by decision-makers.

On Council, we’ll stand up for public spaces that everyone can access safely and sustainably.

The Greens will:

• Support the establishment of dedicated youth services and youth facilities for local young people
• Advocate for quality public transport and walkable communities, with footpaths suitable for wheelchairs, mobility scooters and strollers
• Safe and well-connected cycleways and pedestrian crossings
• Council policies to support LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, refugees, multicultural communities and older people
• Provide free sanitary products to people in public spaces, ensuring more women and girls can access swimming pools and sporting facilities
• Providing safe, clean and accessible infrastructure, including playgrounds, beaches, toilets and Council spaces
• Create spaces for local artists to succeed, with subsidised access for locals

Council is the closest level of government to the community. The Greens believe that everyday people deserve access to the Council processes which affect their everyday lives. Locals should be at the centre of decisions – not politicians or special interests.

The Greens will:

• Increase community consultation and transparency around decision-making
• Empower the Youth Council to gather feedback from young residents on local issues, and boost youth engagement through initiatives like a Mock Council.
• Trial participatory democracy and participatory budgeting, allowing residents to decide how ratepayers’ money is spent on parks and public infrastructure
• Require Council staff and the Mayor to respond to community petitions
• Establish precinct committees, where neighbourhoods can consult directly with Council staff about issues in their local area
• Abolish fees attached to freedom of information requests
• Conduct regular community meetings to seek residents’ feedback on local issues