Developer to go it alone on greenhouse gases

Stanley Quek, a medical doctor from Singapore and the major shareholder of Frasers Property, said power co-generation was one of a number of measures he was looking at to reduce the development's greenhouse footprint.

"We believe it's worth careful consideration because the initial evidence we have is that it's viable on the site," Dr Quek told the Herald.

Frasers Property is building 11 towers, comprising more than 1600 dwellings and 90,000 square metres of commercial and retail space on the old brewery next to Central Station. It is the inner city's largest "blank slate" property.

His plans follow a failed bid in the courts by student Matthew Drake-Brockman to force the State Government to introduce more stringent environmental rules on the developers of the brewery site.

The Herald revealed this month a unit within the Department of Planning, assigned the task of finding ways to reduce demand management, was highly critical of the Government's failure to introduce more stringent environmental rules for developers of major projects.

A spokeswoman for the department said that among the environmental measures required, the developer was to conduct "future investigations into opportunities for each site to generate energy to satisfy its own energy needs".

The Demand Management and Planning Project said the department did not impose even the most basic energy-saving rules on developers.

Co-generation has also been touted by the engineering group Arup, which says it would be ideal for the East Darling Harbour site on the western side of the city.

With only 30 per cent of the power from the giant Hunter Valley generators making it to Sydney's CBD, the current infrastructure is widely recognised as wasteful, even though it is the cheapest form of power.

But the wastage is such an issue that EnergyAustralia, fearing supply shortages in the summer of 2012, says it will have to spend $200 million upgrading the delivery of electricity to inner Sydney if energy-saving solutions are not developed.

Dr Quek manages Fraser's developments in "mature economies" and has worked extensively in London, where the Mayor, Ken Livingstone, has enforced strict rules on environmental sustainability and affordable housing.

Affordable housing is seen as a key factor in ensuring that essential workers, including police and nurses, can stay in the city's most densely populated areas as property prices boom.

Dr Quek said his developments in London had been required to provide as much as 50 per cent in affordable housing. At the Carlton United Brewery, the State Government has demanded a payment that will result in no more than 5 per cent.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/developer-to-go-it-alone-on-greenhouse-gases/2007/09/27/1190486482413.html