Local Government and Ageing in different environments Presentation to International Federation on Ageing Conference Prague May 2012 Margaret Kay Senior Policy Officer, Ageing and Disability Dr Peter Phibbs, Dr Elizabeth O’Brien University of Western Sydney
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Local Government and Ageing in different environments
Local Government and Ageing in different environments. Presentation to International Federation on Ageing Conference Prague May 2012 Margaret Kay Senior Policy Officer, Ageing and Disability Dr Peter Phibbs, Dr Elizabeth O’Brien University of Western Sydney. Outline. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Local Government and Ageing in different environmentsPresentation to International Federation on Ageing ConferencePrague May 2012
Margaret KaySenior Policy Officer, Ageing and DisabilityDr Peter Phibbs, Dr Elizabeth O’Brien University of Western Sydney
Outline
Climate and Local Government
1. Local Government and Ageing project
2. Older people on the move
3. Effects of extreme climates on older people & Council responses:
• social and economic contribution of older people
• identify the magnitude of costs for Local Government of an ageing population
• financial impact
• range of council services affected
• potential impacts on council’s revenue raising capacity
Findings
Value of older people as community members
Councils are expected to provide:• Community transport• Footpaths, paths for mobility scooters• Bus shelters (weather protection)• Services nearby• Facilities for visiting populations
Climate, councils and ageing
• Good climate = – Older people as travellers– Grey nomads need infrastructure– Retirement lifestyles - sea/tree change
• Extreme climate = – Older People’s care in extremes– Engineering solutions compete with age
friendliness
2. Older people on the move
Climate for lifestyle andtourism – NSW north coast
• Pressures on council services:– garbage collection– community transport– community care– cemeteries
3. Effects of extreme climates on older people & council
responses
My Country
•
..I love a sunburnt country,A land of sweeping plains,Of ragged mountain ranges,Of droughts and flooding rains.I love her far horizons,I love her jewel-sea,Her beauty and her terror -The wide brown land for me!
Dorothea Mackellar(1885 - 1968)
•
Challenge for councils
In NSW, councils deal with a range of events:
• Sea level rises
• Flash flood
• Bush fire
• Heat wave
• Drought
Council responses
• Planning and building controls
• Engineering and road works
• Council facilities
• Health support
• Social support
Sea level rises
Rising sea level
• 85% Australians live near coast
• 60,000 homes in NSW affected by 1.1 m sea level rise = $18.7 billion
(Climate Commission 2011)
Coastal erosion
Council response – coastal management policy
• Sea walls, groynes, sand pumping
• Planned retreat policies
• Planning certificate notifications
• Coastal management fee
• Council may be liable for future damages
Sea level rise issues for older people
• Right to protect individual property
• Housing Security
• Fees?
• Insurance premiums
• Modifications?
• Caravan park dwellers
Flash flood
Flash flood Broken Hill
• 10 mm in 2 hours
• Winds 70 km/hr
• Hail
• Lightning
• Power cuts in 6,000
homes
Flash flood Broken Hill
Council response – levee bank
High kerbs
Flood issues for older people
• Health – Mosquitoes– Water quality– Sewerage overflow– Mould – asthma
• Pedestrian access difficult with high kerbs• Isolation
– food services– care
Services- meals on wheels
• Oats afloat?
• Toast in a boat
• Tea at sea?
Canterbury, NSW Meals On Wheels
Bushfire
Bushfire
• Increase in very high fire danger days
• 2002, 100+
homes destroyed (Joint Select Committee on Bushfires 2002)
Dean Street in Long Gully, west of Bendigo Wikipedia