Five-megawatt Solar Farm and Resource Recovery Center opens at Summer Hill

BY ISABEL EVERETT

An $8 million dollar, five-megawatt solar farm and $6 million dollar resource recovery center has opened at Summer Hill Waste Management center.

The solar farm spans the length of 5 football fields, sitting on a previous land fill site, and is expected to save rate payers around $9 million dollars over its 25-year life span. 

The farm will produce enough energy to power the equivalent of 1,300 households, significantly cutting councils electricity costs. 

"Its an impressive site to see whats on the surface, but to also understand that this is on a prior landfill site that wasn't capable of any agricultural purpose, so to give it such a good environmental purpose is really clever," Port Stephens MP and Shadow Minister for the Environment Kate Washington said. 

A recent purchase-power agreement to source electricity from the state's largest wind farm, moves Newcastle city council to become the first local government in NSW to move to 100 percent renewable's as of next year. 

"Newcastle city council is the first council to have created and built a solar farm and as of January first, all of councils operations will be sourced from renewable energy and that's a remarkable outcome," Kate Washington said.  

Newcastle residents can drop off pre-sorted recyclables such as scrap metals, sorted yellow bin recyclables, paper and cardboard, clean untreated wood and soft plastic at the Resource Recovery Center free of charge, diverting around 5,700 tonnes of waste from landfill each year. 

"Newcastle city council is doing exactly what we need to see happening, they are giving people the opportunity to be more environmentally conscious," Kate Washington said. 

"Communities across the state are already there, they want to know what they can do to achieve better environmental outcomes, to reduce land fill and improve our sustainability." 

State MP for Port Stephens Kate Washington, Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes and Cr Peta Winney-Baartz 

State MP for Port Stephens Kate Washington, City of Newcastle Business Development Manager Mark Johnson,Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes, Hon Taylor Martin MLC and Cr Peta Winney-Baartz 

Port Stephens MP Wants a Billboard for Berejiklian

BY CATHERINE ALLEN

Port Stephens MP Kate Washington was joined by local nurses and health worker this morning to launch a campaign to crowd-fund a new billboard to be located on Nelson Bay Road.

The billboard is set to read "Schools and Hospitals before Sydney Stadiums" and is an attempt by Kate Washington to send a strong and clear message to Premier Gladys Berejiklian and local Liberal candidate, Jaimie Abbott.

"Don't waste billions of dollars on Sydney Stadiums, spend it on schools and hospitals instead,"

"Local residents have been raising this issue with me more and more. They can't believe the obscene waste, and they want to know how they can stop it," Ms Washington said.

"People in Port Stephens don't want their hard-earned taxpayers dollars being splurged on stadiums in Sydney."

$1600 is required to put the billboard in place, and Kate Washington has emphasised it is up to residents whether or not they donate to the fund.

Lorna Scott from the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association echoed Ms Washington's sentiments that the government's priorities are wrong.

"For a good society we need health and we need education, and we need the environment to be looked at as well," said Ms Scott.

"These are vitally important things. Stadiums are important for a few people who like to watch men chasing balls, to be quite honest."

The NSW Labor Party has called for the people of NSW to be given the opportunity to have their say on the stadium spending, asking the Berejiklian Government to halt the stadium demolitions until after the March 23 election.

Any residents who wish to donate to the campaign are able to do so via Kate Washington's Facebook page.

Image: Ian Crouch/2NURFM News

Labor Announce Free Transport Plans for Hunter School Kids

BY CATHERINE ALLEN

Plans have been announced by Labor today that will see all school children in the Hunter region receive free public transport across the Opal network.

Port Stephens MP Kate Washington joined state Opposition leader Michael Daley at Medowie to discuss the policy with local families.

If Labor is successful at the March election, the policy will put an end to all charges on buses, trains, ferries and trams for children under 16 years of age, or while they remain in school.

"We're going to make it really simple, if your child is at school their travel on the Opal network will be free all year round," said Michael Daley.

"Instead of wasting billions of dollars knocking down and rebuilding stadiums in Sydney, we're going to prioritise local schools and hospitals, and we're going to make public transport free for kids in the Hunter."

Currently, free travel is limited to a journey to and from school if a student lives within a set distance from their school.

This boundary policy means some students are forced to walk kilometres to reach their school.

"We've got families doing it tough," said Kate Washington.

"The cost of living pressures are really biting in communities like this one here in Medowie and across Port Stephens, and across the Hunter."

Labor Leader Michael Daley and Ports Stephens MP Kate Washington chat to parents and children from Medowie Public School

Irrawang High School Students Petition for Change

BY CATHERINE ALLEN

Irrawang High School students have taken the initiative to create positive change by creating a petition asking for a statewide reboot for school waste management.

Ms. Kate Connor, the student's geography teacher, says they were inspired by the ABC show The War on Waste, to understand the recycling systems in place in other schools around the state.

"The students got all inspired to improve the waste streams at our school and discovered (when it comes to recycling) there wasn't an easy solution," Ms. Connor says.

"The students really felt that we needed a statewide solution to make recycling in schools easy and effective".

The decision was made to create a change.org petition and deliver it to Port Stephens MP Kate Washington when it gathered 500 signatures.

The MP is complimentary of the student's efforts saying she is pleased to bring the issue to the State Government.

"I just want to thank the students for being active, engaged and interested in the environment and in politics," Ms. Washington says.

"Understanding a way they can raise an issue that they feel deeply about in this way is really clever and I really value their effort and energy". 

"What I propose ... is to provide it to the Minister for Education and the Shadow Minister for Education, and ask them to listen to the voices of the students and understand that they feel deeply about the environment and that they would like to see a better system for recycling in our schools".

To support the students of Irrawang High School in their efforts sign their change.org petition at change.org