Response from Cody Davies

1. Following the example of other similar councils across Australia, regarding action on climate change, what climate change mitigation and/or adaptation actions do you see as important for Gawler Council over the next 4 years? (For example https://www.resilientsouth.com)

I’d be interested to see Council adapting to more efficient systems, such as LED lights, and building with the future in mind (e.g. solar panels like were built for the Gawler Community house) as well as educating more people on how they can help out in their own homes.

2. Lots of residential development is happening in Gawler at the moment. Some concerns have been raised regarding subsequent financial and environmental impacts to the community and council, please describe your approach or concerns about the following two aspects:

a. Ensuring, where possible, development incorporates sustainable design principles at design stage.

b. Ensuring that ongoing financial and energy inputs, to council (e.g. in maintenance of open space areas after hand-back to council) are considered at design stage.

I believe that the design stage is the most important stage to make these decisions, as it is the cheapest method in the long-term, as opposed to trying to retro-fit poorly planned development.

3. The future of sustainable food production and other rural uses in Gawler’s Rural Zone has been an issue for Gawler Council over recent years. Proposals include changing the Rural Zone to focus on more residential development. What do you see as the future for Gawler’s Rural Zone?

I think that Gawler would lose something if the rural zone was changed entirely to residential development. As far as the specific uses, without the briefings by staff that council staff would provide, it’s hard to tell what the most efficient use for the Rural Zone would be. Sustainable food production does sound like a good idea though.

4. Gawler has been a car reliant town, how would you encourage the adoption of sustainable transport options to help address Gawler’s traffic and car parking problems? (Eg. Footpaths suitable for bike trailers and prams, shade trees along footpaths, bicycle parking in the shopping precinct, water drinking fountains.)

I generally don’t use a car, so I rely on the local public transport for the most part. Some of the sidewalks in Gawler are unacceptable for e.g. prams and older people and we could do better there. The bus services in Gawler could also use some more fine-tuning and promotion so thay they can become more a more popular choice.

5. Tell us about your ownpersonal initiatives to make your lifestyle sustainable.

At our house, we try to conserve water by, for example, having a bucket in the shower and using that water for miscellaneous tasks. I also try to walk or take public transport when possible rather than relying on cars all the time.