Noosa Council Deputy Mayor Frank Wilkie was on hand to help launch Zero Emissions Noosa’s “Solar for Strata - a new era” initiative. Frank’s been a strong supporter of action on the climate emergency, and with permission we publish his remarks. The event was held at The J on Tuesday 1 March, 2022.
“It’s a pleasure to help ZEN launch the “Solar for Strata: A New Era” event today which follows the work begun with the Solar Strata Masterclass back in March 2020 at the RACV resort.
Today is also a reminder of the distance travelled since Rob Passey’s Roadmap to Zero emissions report back in 2018 in which he noted there was 29MW of solar installed in Noosa Shire. Thanks to ZEN that figure has grown to at least 71MW.
“This means, that instead of flowing to electricity providers, an enormous cash equivalent now remains in the hands of Noosa businesses and residents, enriching the local economy. ”
Solar makes good business sense. As I keep hearing Juanita Terry-Bloomfield say, “It’s a no brainer”. Though she’s not always talking about the efficacy of solar when she says this.
Congratulations today are in order for ZEN along with Christine Pullin from Noosa Keys and Ian Wright and Ryan Rae from Noosa Lakes Resort for the systems installed there. Both serve as encouraging examples to us all on how barriers to rooftop solar for the strata sector can be overcome to allow financial benefits to literally shine down from the sky.
ZEN achieves their impressive goals by working with building managers, body corporate committees and body corporate managers, drawing on pragmatic advice and real-life examples to achieve their ambitious and selfless targets.
As you’ll hear today, a key element in ZEN’s project plan is for Ian Wright to work with eight body corporate committees to develop an individualised Feasibility Study for each, identifying the key legal, technical and financial hurdles for their situation and a plan to overcome them.
Attendees today are encouraged to go to the website www.zeroemissionsnoosa.com.au/solar-for-strata , complete the nomination form and be in the running to be one of the "Lucky Eight" body corporates to benefit from this assistance.
In Stage 2 of the project, ZEN will be documenting the lessons learned from these eight case studies so that others can follow in their footsteps.
Noosa Council has the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions (both for the community and Council) by 2026.
“Zero Emissions shire-wide can only be achieved through partnership with the community, particularly through the council’s Community Reference Group established to assist with the Action Plan to deliver on our Climate Change Response Plan”
We are delighted that ZEN was successful in their grant application under Council's new Climate Change Response grants program to support the Solar for Strata initiative.
The difficulties facing the strata sector are well documented, and ZEN's 3-stage project plan demonstrates a sound evidentiary and strategic approach to the challenges.
I wish to single out Annie Nolan, who is the nexus between the council and the ZEN community group in pursuing these targets and I’m sure you’ll agree her work is impeccable. Please thank Annie.
I want to thank representatives of the strata sector for being here today and again congratulate the hard-working and skilled ZEN volunteers for the highly professional work done in simplifying and overcoming the complex legal, technical and financial difficulties body corporates face when considering installing rooftop solar.”