Hills resident Toni Warden told the meeting the substation project is wrong on many levels. “Western Power intend to use the substation to reinforce the power grid connecting the metropolitan area with Collie, where two new coal-fired power stations are under construction and two more are on the drawing board”, she said. “Coal-fired power stations produce more greenhouse gases than any other form of electricity production.”
Warden also highlighted the destruction of up to 400 hectares of state forest if the substation goes ahead. “In selecting the proposed area for the project … Western Power gave no consideration to the environmental or social impacts of the project”, she said. “Burning coal is death for the planet and, with less than 7% of forest left in Western Australia, the substation is death for the state forest.”
The meeting also discussed research into solar voltaic panels with the hope of securing a bulk discount for local homes, bulk purchase of water tanks, lobbying local councils on building regulations, waste reduction and footpaths, and campaigning for a reversal of the federal government’s decision to means-test the solar electricity rebate.
“We have a full agenda of real action”, meeting convenor Annolies Truman said. “At the end of the meeting a participant pointed to the long list we had on the whiteboard and commented that ordinary people have to work very hard when our governments are owned by the coal industry.”
The Hills Climate Action Group can be contacted on (08) 9299 6453 or at
http://www.wardoffclimatechange.org.au.
