February 6th
Minister for Housing Matt Brown today congratulated public housing residents across the state for playing their part in dramatically reducing their water usage.
Speaking ahead of the National Housing Conference, to be held in Sydney from Wednesday 20 February to Friday 22 February, Mr Brown said Housing NSW residents have cut the amount of water they use by 9%.
“This is enough water to fill 2,500 Olympic size swimming pools per year, which is a brilliant effort from our residents,” Mr Brown said.
“The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal have found Housing NSW tenants no longer use more water than households renting privately.
“This is fantastic news from IPART, and the credit should go to the residents, who have shown they are playing their part in conserving our water,” Mr Brown said.
In 2003, IPART estimated public housing tenants used an average of 50 kilolitres per household more water a year than those who rent in private housing.
“That equated to three thousand million litres that could be saved if public housing tenants used the same quantity of water as other households,” Mr Brown said.
“The introduction of tenant water charges, the Government’s program of installing water saving devices in Housing NSW homes and an ongoing education campaign have all played a part in helping residents reduce their water usage.
“Until this point, water usage costs were paid in full by Housing NSW, which did not encourage water conservation and cost tens of millions of dollars.
“Now all the money we are saving by charging for water is being re-invested into the public housing system, helping the Government to build, acquire or substantially upgrade 30,000 homes over the next 10 years,” Mr Brown said
Mr Brown said to help residents reduce their water usage, the NSW Government has run an ongoing education campaign and has progressively been installing water saving devices in Housing NSW homes.
“So far, around 75,000 homes have been retrofitted in the Sydney metropolitan area, on the Central Coast and in a number of drought affected towns in regional NSW.
“This program has been expanded to other areas of the State and when complete will include approximately 128,000 properties.
“This commitment to water saving is proof the NSW Government is serious about protecting the environment, and at the National Housing Conference, I will be announcing more ways in which Housing NSW is leading the way in environmental sustainability,” Mr Brown said.
The National Housing Conference will be held at Darling Harbour from Wednesday 20 February to Friday 22 February 2008. For more information, visit www.nationalhousingconference.org.au