Green madness at Waverley

The Greens on Waverley Council have lost the plot with their illogical attack on one of Australia's great cultural traditions and rights - the backyard pool. The article below from today's Sydney Morning Herald demonstrates how irrational the Greens have become. The Greens want backyard pools banned to save water - yet Sydney Water says pools use on 2% of the water used by Sydney homes. 'This compares with 15% flushed down the toilet and 17% in washing machines.' Will the Greens be advocating a ban on toilet flushing and washing clothes soon? What's behind this madness is a barely disguised disdain for conspicuous consumerism and wealth. The photograph below from the SMH illustrates the investments households make in the backyard pools. It is often said the Greens are 'water melons - green on the outside and red inside' and with some antecedents in the communist movements this is an example of that anti-capital mantra bubbling to the surface. It took the Waverley Labor Councillors a very long time to disassociate from the Green motion. I expect it will be defeated at tonight's meeting and remembered at the next election.

Waverley residents defend their pools
By Bonnie Malkin and Richard MaceyNovember 15, 2005

Laps of luxury Â… backyard pools abound in the beachfront suburb of Dover Heights.Photo: Robert Pearce
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Idea: stop flushing millions of dollars down the toilet
Waverley Council will press ahead with plans to vote on banning swimming pools, lap pools and plunge pools tonight despite widespread criticism.
The swimming pool industry and home owners have called on the council to withdraw the motion to prohibit new pools, but Waverley's Mayor, Mora Main, said the council still wanted to discuss the issue.
"The debate has been quite good. It has caused a bit of a riot and has challenged traditional Aussie values about the backyard, but it's nice to see people thinking about water," she said.
Cr Main said she and fellow Greens councillor George Copeland want to investigate banning pools to save water.
But the president of the Swimming Pool and Spa Association of NSW, Manfred Wiesemes, said residential pools accounted for less than 10 per cent of the annual household water used in greater Sydney.
"When a pool is filled with water it can remain full for 10 years or more. They do need a bit of extra water from time to time but the majority of that is added by rain," he said.
The highest concentration of pools in Sydney was in the eastern and northern suburbs, such as Ku-ring-gai and Lane Cove, he said.
The president of the Local Government Association, Genia McCaffery, said motion's intention was good but it was better to assess each pool individually.
The motion comes a day after the Bureau of Meteorology said this year would be the hottest year since records began in 1910. Read more here.