Green light in race to become mayor
Creating a worldclass sustainable city has been my objective for all my time on council and I’d like to think that we can now move Hobart into that next level of sustainability
GREENS councillor Bill Harvey has declared he will challenge Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds for the top job in the hotly contested Hobart City Council mayoral race.
Mr Harvey announced his mayoral candidacy on Friday alongside some new election promises, including community power hubs, urban forests and separated bike lanes.
The community power hubs would be councilowned spaces where locals could park their solar panels in order to offset their energy bills.
He is also proposing a Hobart-wide crackdown on invasive weeds to be turned into biochar for native habitat gardens.
During his time as councillor Mr Harvey has put forward a range of greenaligned initiatives, enraging some of his more conservative counterparts.
He put forward the citywide single-use plastics ban, making Hobart the first capital city to outlaw plastic containers, bags and other ecounfriendly items.
The single-use plastics ban was then rolled out to other capital cities, as well as the entire state of Western Australia, the ACT and, next year, Victoria.
Mr Harvey also put forward Hobart’s climate change emergency declaration, prompting three aldermen to walk out of council chambers in a rage.
At the time Alderman Marti Zucco accused Mr Harvey of using council resources to prop up a “Leftist agenda”.
Mr Harvey declined the opportunity to hit back at some of his detractors, saying he would prefer a contest of ideas rather than political sledging.
Mr Harvey has championed the e-scooter trial and is advocating more separated cycleways be built for riders and cyclists.
He is also proposing a crackdown on feral cats on Hobart reserves, as well as asking locals not to allow their domestic cats to roam and terrorise the native wildlife.
When asked for his thoughts on the University of Tasmania relocation, Mr Harvey said he would assess the proposal on its merits when the planning applications came in.
He said his priority as mayor would be on making Hobart a greener, environmentally friendly place to live.
“Creating a world-class sustainable city has been my objective for all my time on council and I’d like to think that we can now move Hobart into that next level of sustainability,” Mr Harvey said.
“We need to start looking at best practices around the world and how we can roll out those sorts of programs in Hobart to distinguish ourselves as a forward-thinking city that’s responding to the climate and biodiversity emergency.”