By JESSE GRAHAM
MORE WOOD is good, according to a Yarra Ranges councillor, who put forward a proposal for the council to use more environmentally-friendly materials in construction.
Speaking at the 12 May Yarra Ranges Council meeting, Cr Jim Child proposed that the council should consider bringing in a policy encouraging the use of wood in construction projects.
Citing a Local Government Forest and Timber Industry Conference he attended last month, Cr Child said that he and other attendees had been toured around specially-made timber buildings in Melbourne.
He told the council meeting that, according to a Planet Ark presentation at the conference, wood in construction saves roughly a tonne of carbon emissions per cubic metre, comparatively.
Concrete and steel also use more energy and fossil fuels in their creation, and Cr Child said he wanted council to have a policy of encouraging wood and sustainable alternatives in construction, before turning to traditional products.
“I think the main message is that, now we’re using our fossil deposits in regards to oil and iron ore, we have to be looking at alternatives,” Cr Child said.
“Simply by using wood in our constructions, we’re storing carbon in those wood products.
“I think that, really, we’re well on the way in the Yarra Ranges.”
Cr Child is a passionate advocate for the timber industry, and has been vocal on issues around the industry in the Yarra Ranges, such as logging, in the past.
He said the re-construction of Warburton’s Brisbane Bridge, where the concrete decking system has been replaced with high-tension wood, was a “classic” example of a move towards using sustainable materials.
The idea, he said, came from a Nillumbik Shire Council bridge in Diamond Creek, which was made using wood 20 years ago and sealed with bitumen.
“You’d swear it was constructed yesterday,” he said.
Cr Child was supported at the meeting by Cr Terry Avery, who said Victoria should follow Scandinavian countries’ approaches to sustainable tree farming.
The proposal for encouraging wood in construction will be investigated by Yarra Ranges Council officers, before being brought back to the councillors in a forum meeting, Cr Child said.
Planet Ark’s website’s Make it Wood campaign advocates for responsibly-sourced wood to be used in construction, due to its low carbon use and renewability.
