Vic and SA adopt recycled water models ...

How recycled water is used in Victoria and South Australia - flagship examples.

Pity about the trains ...

Excerpt from the Herald Sun:

Bill Russell: Suburb runs off the rails

9 October 2007

If you take a Sunday drive out along High St, Epping, past the plaza, you'll come to signs pointing to a new subdivision called Aurora.

It's a nice spot at the end of a drive and you can get a cappuccino at the Red Gum Cafe after you've had a look around.

Aurora is what suburbs will be like in a more sustainable future, where we pay more attention to the way we use energy, water and fuel in our everyday lives.

Aurora conserves and recycles water, and there are solar panels on the sails that protect the children's playground.

Six stars is the benchmark here for household energy efficiency, whether you live in a McMansion, a trendy terrace or something more modest.

Aurora is sponsored by VicUrban to show just how a sustainable suburb works.
In surrounding suburbs, the environment has been an afterthought rather than a guiding principle.

Just now, there is an impressive range of display homes around the Discovery Centre.
Streets have names such as Earlybird Drive and Cityview Way. The houses look comfortable. Places to live that families will enjoy.

But public transport to and from Aurora has been bungled.

There is a rail corridor from Epping into the centre of the development and a rail line should have been laid before the first residents moved in.

But the then transport minister postponed the line for at least 15 years, which is as close to never as a politician will admit.

Public transport is a limited bus service. At the weekend, the last bus leaves Aurora at noon on Saturdays and on Sundays there is no service. On weekdays, there is a bus on the hour during the day.

There are no shops in Aurora except the Red Gum Cafe, which stocks a few groceries, but makes no pretence at being a supermarket.

Adelaide does it much better in its counterpart suburb of Mawson Lakes.

The local council sells recycled water to factories cheaper.

In the centre of Mawson Lakes there is a university campus and accommodation for students.
A Technology Park provides 3000 jobs and is surrounded by family homes. There is single accommodation in the town centre.

There is a train service seven days a week and 15 bus routes, including all-night buses.
The all-night buses serving Mawson Lakes are as frequent as those serving Aurora at peak period during the day.

Aurora is a great initiative, but it's a pity Melbourne 2030 promise of better public transport is such a sham.

See - Vic and SA lead the way.

Aurora

At Aurora, every home could save 1000 bathtubs of drinking water per year using recycled water.

The average Melbourne home uses around 268,000 litres of drinking water every year - at Aurora this will be reduced by 40%.

Plus as part of the Aurora street network, grass swales have been integrated to slow down water runoff, allowing seepage into the ground and filtering out pollutants.

Every house at Aurora is anticipated to have recycled water for toilet flushing and outdoor use in 2008.

See - Water - making a difference at Aurora.