What's Happening in Nunawading, VIC…

The City of Mitcham is taking the reduction of greenhouse emissions seriously, as the council pledged to ratepayers that its car fleet would be moving away from petrol-powered vehicles.

As the first step in achieving this goal, the council has now purchased two 100 per cent electric cars. The two new Hyundai vehicles should save ratepayers about $2,000 each year by reducing fuel costs, and they will reduce CO2 emissions by up to four tonnes. The move to electric cars is part of the council’s response to the climate crisis, as set out in the corporate goals of the City Power Partnership. Organisations can use brochure printing when presenting plans and projects like this to groups and individuals.

The council will install four charging stations in different locations to power the fleet and for the public to use at no charge. The stations will be fast charging with twin ports. Civic Centre public car park will have two stations, with another at Blackwood's Gladstone Street car park and a fourth at a soon-to-be-announced location in St Marys/Flinders precinct.

In addition, the council has undertaken the installation of solar panels in council-owned properties and has converted almost 5,000 street lights to LED to move to renewable resources. Mayor Heather Holmes-Ross hopes the move by the council to more renewable resources will encourage council employees and ratepayers to consider electric vehicles in the future.