Over 90 stakeholders from across Western Sydney attended a forum yesterday to address one of the region’s burning issues – extreme heat.
Specialists from across the health, infrastructure, planning, environment, community, university and private sectors gathered at the ‘Turn down the heat’ forum to discuss how urban heat can be mitigated in the rapidly developing region.
Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) Chief Executive Officer, Charles Casuscelli, said the response to the forum had been overwhelming.
“This year’s record-breaking summer really emphasised the pressure heat places on our health, environment, urban infrastructure and economy,” he said.
“We saw the impact heat had on our energy grid, transport networks and emergency services. We saw health impacts and increased hospitalisations, and I am sure we will feel the economic impacts when we receive our energy bill for the last quarter.
“Urban heat isn’t unique to Western Sydney, but it does have a particularly significant impact here due to the region’s unique climatic conditions, large residential population and rapid rate of development.
“The importance of this issue is clear from the sheer number of organisations – both public and private – who are looking at how they can plan for a cooler, more liveable Western Sydney.
“There are a number of fantastic cooling initiatives out there – community education initiatives, urban greening programs, water sensitive design, and new technologies.
“What is missing however, is a strategic plan for tackling heat across all levels government and the private sector – exactly what we are hoping to facilitate.”
WSROC will continue to work with stakeholders over the next 12 months a regional action plan.
Partners for the event included WSROC, Blacktown City Council, City of Parramatta, Cumberland Council, Penrith City Council, Liverpool City Council, City of Canterbury Bankstown, Western Sydney University, Greater Sydney Commission, Resilient Sydney, Western Sydney, South Western Sydney and Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health Districts.
