Councillor Chris Harris

Greens Councillor Chris Harris has nominated the City of Sydney Council for a positive award at the Greens Bad Development Awards. The Awards, run by Greens MP Sylvia Hale, target bad developments and councils, but also have categories which recognise good developments and initiatives.

The City of Sydney has 15 water harvesting and recycling systems already installed with another 34 underway, and Councillor Harris, an often outspoken critic of bad developments and the lack of sustainable initiatives, is impressed by the positive steps the Council is taking on water.

“I’m usually the dissenting voice on developments and issues that do nothing to help make this city sustainable, so it’s good to be able to promote initiatives that will help the city reduce its reliance on mains water and the volume of stormwater discharged into our waterways,” Councillor Harris said.

“One of the most exciting projects is the Hyde, Cook and Phillip Park Stormwater and Groundwater Reuse Project which will take ground water from the Cross City Tunnel and Busby’s Bore to be fed into a 800,000 litre underground storage tank in Cook and Phillip Park. Water will be treated and piped to smaller storage tanks for irrigation of Hyde Park.”

Recycled water may also be used for toilet flushing, watering and street cleaning.  Other sites with already completed water harvesting projects include Barcom Avenue Park, Darlinghurst Road, Glebe Foreshore and Taylor Square Fountain.

 “Our future depends on initiatives such as this and it’s important that the City of Sydney gets recognition at an event which is attracting more and more publicity each year. I hope it gets a gong,” Councillor Harris said.