What we might see when we arrive

Here is the "Vision of a Sustainable Newcastle in 10 years Time" from one of our committee, Alison Cleary's (13/8/08), which is an earlier version of the one she presented at the Trainsition Newcastle Launch at Earth Hour in March, 2009.

<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if !mso]>

"It's another new year and as I climb the cathedral stairs, I'm reminded of when I first started coming up here each year to look over Australia. It was ten years ago, on New Year's Day 2009 and, after the enormous awareness raising campaign in late 2008, I suddenly felt we had a chance. Climate change was a reality Australians were willing to face and to deal with.

Right up the top of the cathedral, I can see all around and the view from here is amazing. The sun glints off countless banks of solar cells, invisibly running heating, lights and power in thousands of homes I can't even see. There are tall poles scattered here and there, with wind turbines on top. They're so quiet now, they're starting to become the new in-thing to have. I love the look of them - they're still somehow slightly strange - I don't think I'll ever quite get used to them. There are few houses without a water tank now and there is no shortage of water for drinking, watering the garden and for industrial use. It has taken a long time to convince Australians, but at Burwood is one of the first sewage treatment plants in Australia to pump pure water back into our waterways.

There are patches of green everywhere. Community gardens have become great places for the family to get together. There are children's gardens with nursery rhyme characters, vege gardens and mazes, herb gardens, lovely walks and benches to sit on when you just want to stop and look around. And there are spaces for teenagers and young adults - skate parks and graffiti walls, murals and mosaics, nooks and crannies to explore and work to get involved in. I love it! I can't imagine why it took us so long to make these spaces.

I can't see from here, but there are so many revitalised suburbs around. The urban renewal programs have worked better than anyone could imagine. When I walk through Mayfield, I'm surrounded by planters covered in mosaics, flowers in bloom, drawings and sculptures and tiny shopfronts hiding wonderful secrets inside - workshops for the community in all sorts of things. You can learn how to build a mud brick house, or how to plant a vege garden. You can join a quilting group or a woodworking group and you can make artworks to put up around the town. There's something for everyone and no one feels left out. Bush regeneration and urban renewal have taken over from sport as the national pastimes and people are reconnecting with their families through shared activities.

Out even further away, I can imagine the huge wind turbines turning around on farms in the Hunter Valley. Since the feed-in tariff was introduced, farmers have been clamouring for investors to put their money into wind and solar farms on farm land. It's been a great way to diversify! As long as the sun shines and the wind blows, the farmers know it doesn't matter so much if the rain falls.

Of course, there's more to the great prosperity I see all around me. The great Honeysuckle development has changed over the last ten years, becoming something different to what anyone might have imagined back then. There are few cars along the waterfront now. Families, couples and individuals have taken over on their bikes. There are bike hire shops at Nobbies and at Scratchleys and they are springing up all over Newcastle, as people begin to take to the streets on their bikes. I love watching mothers take their children to go shopping, bring the kids and the groceries back with them in their bike carts. It reminds me of a visit to Holland years ago.

The streets are almost free of four wheel drives and most of the enthusiasts have joined 4WD clubs where they share vehicles to take on adventure holidays. It's rare to see one on suburban streets, now that petrol is so expensive and the taxes on registering 4WDs have increased enormously. The cars I see now are mostly electric cars. They plug into the grid to recharge and as most of the electricity in the Hunter Valley is now renewable, they're running on green power!

People still have lovely homes, but they're more energy efficient now. Our appliances have been improved, new homes are built to comply with strict solar design principles and every new house has to have a renewable energy source, a water tank, a sustainable sewerage treatment system and a grey water recycling system installed. There are more regulations being introduced for retrofitting old homes with some of these things too.

Since the rebates for renewables were introduced in 2010 for businesses, there has been a huge take-up of renewable energy by companies in Newcastle and pressure from the public has forced governments to fit all of their office buildings with renewable energy.

Our local schools look so different to what they did ten years ago. There are vege gardens, native tree plantings, wind turbines, annual energy audits and courses on action against climate change.

The coastline is different too. There are few ships waiting off the shore and most of them are container vessels. Coal is still exported from the port, but although the second coal loader, finished less than ten years ago is being used, the old coal loader has been shut down. Some countries have been slow to switch to alternative energy sources, but there is enough pressure throughout the world to make it an imperative and I think in the next five years, we'll see the last of the coal exports going through our port. I think back to the closing of BHP all those years ago and I know we'll survive the shut-down of the coal mines and the coal export industry. We've had plenty of warning and there are all sorts of measures in place to ease the burden on those affected. The proliferation of renewable energy in the Hunter Valley has seen so many new jobs created that few worry about the closing down of coal anymore.

Even our garbage has changed over the years. With the opening up of more farmer's markets, the price placed on plastic bags and the new recycling system that separates garbage at the source, we have "clean" waste disposal sites. It's hard to believe that just ten years ago, we recycled so little and now we use everything we throw in the garbage for some productive means, whether it be to produce methane for electricity production, or to feed the worms and produce worm castings to fertilize people's gardens.

Agrichar is huge in the Hunter Valley. The vineyards are the best in the world, with this amazing product of burning green waste without oxygen providing the most fertile soil scientists can manufacture! Of course, many Novocastrians recycle their own green waste now, with worm composting in many backyards and mulchers available for loan through permaculture groups.

It's taken all these years, but geothermal energy is just taking off too. We continue to export energy-based products like aluminium, using the energy from geothermal systems to supply what is needed to produce them.

As I look out from the cathedral windows and I can't wait to get back out into the fresh air outside. The little room is filling up with tourists and it's time for my regular visit to the local co-op. I love shopping there. I can buy all sorts of locally produced foods by weight and take along my own containers to hold what I buy, avoiding packaging. I can take along my shampoo bottle and refill it and I can buy unusual foods that aren't grown locally through fair trade. It's so much more fun than shopping at the supermarket used to be. And best of all, any profits go back to the people who shop at the co-op. When I buy something, I'm making money for myself!

Life has changed a lot over the past ten years, but it's been changes for the better and I love it."