Western Sydney councils plan to create heat shelters and want heatwaves to be treated the same as other natural disasters.
The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils’ Heat Smart Resilience Framework will create heat refuges for residents to cool down during summer swelters.
President Barry Calvert said heatwaves killed more Australians every year and should be treated with the same precautions as floods and fires.
NSW’s current heatwave emergency plan focuses on the distribution of heatwave warnings. This approach is inadequate for the level of heat being experienced in western Sydney,’ he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
The new plan would set up heat refuges in community centres after new data found western Sydney regions endured 37 days of temperatures above 35C in 2020
Many households don’t have access to proper tree cover, air-conditioning, or swimming facilities.
Blacktown City Council was the first to trial the ‘cool centres’ in five locations last summer on days temperatures soared above 32C.
The shelters were made in churches and community centres and offered air-conditioning, refreshments, cold water, and entertainment for people ‘unable to keep cool at home’.
The Sweltering Cities’ Summer Survey found 47 per cent of renters and 14 per cent of homeowners said they would rather go to a heat refuge centre than stay home on hot days.