Green initiatives not the reason for delays and cost blowouts
May 23rd, 2007The delays with the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre at Ultimo are not because of the inclusion of green initiatives (Pool Centre delayed till water a deeper shade of green SMH 22/5/07) but because of complex engineering problems. Nor will the addition of the Greens initiative to include an energy-saving, co-generation power partnership between the Powerhouse Museum and the pool hold anything up because this work can easily be done even after the pool is built.
On the Surry Hill Community Centre, the reason for the cost blow-out is because of the Lord Mayor’s mis-management of the project not the ‘ecologically sustainable features’. For example the cost of the water tank is less than $200,000 out of a budget of $19 million. The Surry Hills Community Centre still uses airconditioning, is still on mains water and sewerage using coal-fired electricity to pump dam water in and sewage out.This is not about the Lord Mayor’s ‘expensive green tastes’ it’s about expensive greenwash.
Chris Harris
Deputy Lord Mayor
City of Sydney 22 May 2007
(Letter to the editor, The Sydney Morning Herald, unpublished to date)
