Council Election October 2020

The results of the Boroondara Council election have now been finalised, with big gains for meaningful climate action.

Two of the three Councillors who supported a Boroondara Climate Emergency declaration stood for re-election (Jane Addis and Lisa Hollingsworth), and both were returned.  They have now been joined by three new Councillors who scored very strongly on our climate questionnaire (Susan Biggar, Victor Franco and Wes Gault), plus another Councillor whose responses were more qualified but who also scored well (Di Gillies).

That means we now have six of eleven Councillors who favour effective climate action in Boroondara!

This is a great result, and we can claim a big part of the credit for making it happen!  The many people who helped with our campaign should all feel very satisfied and proud.  That includes more than 100 volunteers who delivered over 30,000 scorecards over two days. 

A big Thank You to everyone who worked on this campaign!

What do our Councillors say about the climate?

All candidates were invited to complete our detailed climate questionnaire before the election. The questionnaire (which also covered governance issues) was designed to identify the policies and actions which candidates were committed to pursuing if elected.  You can find the full responses of the successful candidates who responded by clicking on their names below. 

Four of the elected Councillors declined to answer the questionnaire, three of whom were on the previous Council and voted against declaration of a climate emergency (starred below):

Now for climate action in Boroondara!

The Council began development of a Climate Action Plan before the election.  With a new Council much more favourable to meaningful climate action, there is now a real chance of a strong and effective plan.  The first phase of consultation on the plan has been completed, and the second phase is expected to commence early in 2021.  We need to tell the Council what we want, including:

• Council leadership on climate action in Boroondara
• ambitious targets for net zero emissions from Council operations and across the community
• detailed initiatives to promote emissions reductions from households, businesses and transport
• strategies to help the community adapt to climate change
• a strong governance framework for the plan, including regular reporting and a community reference group

Make sure you are part of the consultation.  If you haven't already done so, register to be kept informed here.

Demand an ambitious Climate Action Plan!

The Council is also updating its 10 year Boroondara Community Plan, and is seeking community input until the end of January 2021. This is a key document for the Council, outlining a 10-year vision to guide Council’s planning, Budget, services and actions under 7 priority themes, including the Environment.  The Council survey for the plan gives us another opportunity to highlight the importance of climate action for the people of Boroondara.  You can find the link to the survey here.

Make the climate a priority in all Council planning!

If you would like to help our campaign for climate action in Boroondara, please sign up here!