Media Release: Time to Rethink Liveability: Landscape Construction and Greenlife the Key
4 JUNE: Landscape construction and greenlife complete any residential construction project and should not be overlooked as Australians look to access the new HomeBuilder grants program announced today.
An alliance including Greenlife Industry Australia, Turf Australia and the Landscape Associations of Victoria, NSW & ACT, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia says the HomeBuilder program provides an opportunity to rethink the definition of ‘liveability’.
Greenlife Industry Australia CEO Peter Vaughan welcomed the intent of HomeBuilder program however he went on to say that the landscaping and greenlife industries were key to ensuring our homes were truly ‘liveable’.
“The Homebuilder program asserts the renovation works must be to improve the accessibility, safety and liveability of the dwelling. Landscape and greenlife complete any building or renovation and the value they provide in increasing liveability in our homes cannot be underestimated,” Mr Vaughan said.
“As people look to build or renovate under HomeBuilder, liveable outdoor spaces and the presence of ‘green’ will be just as, if not more, important than the tiles, bricks and mortar,” said Mr Vaughan.
There’s plenty of evidence that liveable outdoor spaces and greenlife are absolutely key to boosting our health and wellbeing.
Research undertaken as part of the Plant Life Balance Trend Report1, a strategic levy investment under the Hort Innovation Nursery Fund, says that Australians feel good when they are in the garden with 66 per cent of respondents achieving a sense of satisfaction and 58 per cent reporting an improved mood.
Greenlife is important on a wider scale too. As our cities warm up, it has been proven that introduction of more green space can reduce surface temperatures by up to 40 per cent2. Installation of greenlife will cool our built environment, reducing energy costs, lowering carbon footprint and improving health outcomes, particularly amongst children and the elderly.
Green space is also of significant strategic importance to our communities. For example, a strategic levy investment under the Hort Innovation Turf Fund recently found that living turf is also a bushfire retardant, meaning it has an important role to play in building safer communities on the urban fringe.
For more information contact:
Sam Cox Cox Inall Communications 0401 464 664 Samuel.cox@coxinall.com.au
1 https://myplantlifebalance.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/PLB_Trend_Report_2020.pdf