Analysis of Health Priorities - Housing & Physical Environment

Priority Area 1:  Improve Housing

The population of Corio Norlane is relatively transient, with approximately 20% of people having lived at another address one year ago. The Victorian State Government’s Office of Housing and Community Building (OHCB) owns more than 1,800 or approximately one fifth of all properties in Corio Norlane. The OHCB segmented waiting list ensures that those people most in need are allocated housing first. The complexity of issues experienced by applicants for public housing creates significant challenges for those working to assist tenants to achieve sustainable tenancies.
Neighbourhood Renewal has spent more than $30 million to deliver housing upgrades and immediate improvements to public housing properties in Corio Norlane. In addition, the Norlane Regeneration Project, a four year $40 million project funded by OHCB, involves the construction of 200 new homes in Norlane, with upgrade works to a further 100 homes. The Norlane Regeneration Project is aimed at achieving broader community and social outcomes including education, employment, and health and community participation. The funding ensures that the homes become available over a four-year period. Stage 1 of the project is complete with 40 homes now tenanted. Stage 2 will delivery the remaining 160 homes and will involve the identification of appropriate sites that can be used to construct a mix of private, social and public housing dwellings (DHS 2007a).
However, it is clear from the following results of the Corio Norlane Neighbourhood Renewal Community Survey (2007) that more work to enhance housing in Corio Norlane is required:

• The standard of people’s housing in their neighbourhood was rated less positively by participants in Corio Norlane, and they were less likely to be very satisfied with their own housing, compared with participants in the control group.
• Respondents from Corio Norlane also indicated that the best way to improve their standard of housing was to provide have:  better maintenance, painting, cleanliness and inspections by the landlord, and also better gardens and maintenance of yards (Deakin University 2007).

Priority Area 2: Improve Parks and Gardens

The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion identified that the environment plays an important role in health. Research suggests that there are established physical, social and economic health benefits associated with viewing and being in nature or natural environments such as parks and open spaces.  Benefits include:

• Physical: increased cardiovascular functioning; reduced symptoms of and ability to deal with stress; reduced heart rate; release tension; and lowered blood pressure.
• Social:  promote a sense of community, foster a sense of belonging or sense of place, and enhance social ties/relationships
• Economic: improves worker productivity; improves recovery rates of patients in hospital; and decreases the incidence of illness reported by individuals incarcerated in detention centres (Maller et al 2005, Pryor et al 2006, World Health Organization 1986).

In Corio Norlane there is an abundance of underdeveloped and often underutilised open space.  Significant areas of open space include:

• Connections Park in Rosewall (Corio)
• Windsor Park in Norlane
• Horne and Chaffey Squares in Cloverdale (Corio)
• Glenelg Avenue Community Park in Corio
• Evans Reserve in Norlane
• Stead Park in Corio

‘Friends of Cowies Creek’ is a community driven group that came together to discuss their mutual concerns and identify solutions to the overgrown and rubbish filled creek that runs through their community in Corio Norlane. As a result, this group has dramatically improved the visual amenity of the area encouraging local residents to use the pathway along side the creek for recreational purposes. In addition, participation in caring for and nurturing the environment has proven results in increasing people’s connectedness to their local community. ‘Garden’s in our Community’ network brings together keen local gardeners and people who have an interesting gardening to work on local gardening and open space projects. Bringing together people with mutual interests not only fosters a sense of belonging and connectedness in the community it also provides a positive forum for peer education.
While significant investment has been made by Neighbourhood Renewal and the City of Greater Geelong to improve the quality of public open space in recent years, many of the local parks and playgrounds continue to become progressively more run down. Comparison results from the 2005 and 2007 Corio Norlane Neighbourhood Renewal Survey indicate that respondents were significantly more negative in 2007 in their rating of the physical environment with rubbish, and graffiti and vandalism, reported as ‘big problems’. To improve the physical environment in Corio Norlane respondents suggested: a general clean-up of nature strips, trees and gutters, and having a street sweeper, followed by improving or providing new parks, playgrounds and open spaces (Deakin University 2007).
In Corio Norlane, work needs to continue to improve public open spaces and playgrounds with a focus on creating healthy urban environments for children. This notion is further supported by recent survey results, from the community event ‘Plant Meet and Eat’ held at Cloverdale Community Centre in May 2009, which indicate that there is a need for: play equipment, skate ramps, shade, barbeque facilities, community events, and the planting of edible fruit and nut trees, in underutilised public open spaces.

Priority Area 3: Reduce Energy Usage and Costs

Cost

Individuals living in Corio Norlane receive a median income 34% lower as compared to the rest of Australia. It follows that compared to people in higher socioeconomic areas, residents in Corio Norlane are less likely to be able to take advantage of government rebates for water tanks and solar hot water systems, as discretionary funds are not readily available (ABS 2006). Energy and water costs to households have increased dramatically over recent years. The cost disproportionately impacts on low income house holds.

Water Restrictions

Corio Norlane have been in a ‘rain shadow’ for many years.  Data collected in 2006 indicates that Norlane has a lower mean rainfall in every month of the year (more than 5mm difference each month and up to 20mm difference) compared to Melbourne. Further evidence from Avalon Airport, the closest rainfall data collection site to Corio Norlane, indicates that the area surrounding Avalon receives on average over 10mm less rainfall than Melbourne.  To demonstrate the severe circumstances of the water supply in Geelong, Stage 4 Water Restrictions currently apply and restrict the use of garden hoses to water gardens and wash cars, reduction in overall household water usage in addition to restricting the watering of sports grounds.
The Northern Water Plant Project is a major capital investment program that will be built, owned and operated Barwon Water. It is a joint project between Barwon Water and Shell Geelong Refinery with funding from Commonwealth and State Governments. It is a major initiative that responds to the community’s concerns about increasingly scarce water resources. This fully enclosed water treatment plant will result in the annual reduction of industrial use of potable water equivalent to 5% of Geelong’s water supply. The Plant will also cater for growth in Corio Norlane and reduce wastage by recycling water for such uses as supplying the redeveloped Stead Park with water to care for its grounds.

Energy Use

The average household produces about 14 tonnes of greenhouse gas each year, much of it from energy use.  Energy consumption by households is increasing with larger homes, more people, appliances and IT equipment per household, energy consumption has grown exponentially by 49% between 1987-88 and 2006-07.
Community awareness of environmental issues has led to an increased use of energy saving measures in the home. In 2008, 59% of households had energy saving lighting installed (up from 33% in 2005), and energy star ratings were the main household consideration when replacing refrigerators, freezers and clothes dryers. While people are becoming more environmentally aware, more households now own coolers (67%) and dishwashers (45%) and other appliances, such as LCD and plasma televisions, the latter using almost three times the amount of energy than a standard television (ABS 2006). Energy saving retrofits funded by Sustainability Energy Authority Victoria (SEAV) and installed by CREATE Social Enterprise have already provided energy saving modifications to more than 300 low income homes in Corio Norlane.
In Corio Norlane, Shell Geelong Refinery has committed to sustainable environmental improvements through its Environment Improvement Plan (EIP).  The EIP 2007-2009 list several key objectives including but not limited to: resource efficiency including water, energy and greenhouse gas emissions; air quality; and soil and groundwater. The Northern Water Plan Project discussed above is one of many strategies to providing sustainable environmental practices.

In addition, to these there is one community garden in Norlane and two planned for Corio.  These gardens allow residents to become involved in gardening projects that will demonstrate water saving techniques to reduce the amount of potable water used on gardens.

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