Curran to urge home insulation

As the Regional Job Summit begins in Dunedin this afternoon, Dunedin South Labour MP Clare Curran is calling for the Government to urgently invest in insulating up to 40,000 Dunedin homes to help stimulate the local economy.

Ms Curran will seek support for the idea at the summit in the hope of creating hundreds of jobs and making many of Dunedin's cold houses dry and warm.

She said Dunedin already had a programme developed by the Dunedin City Council with funding from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA). The programme aimed to insulate and heat 2000 Dunedin homes in five months, employing 120 people.

"I understand a reduced version of that programme may go ahead and I applaud that. But if the National Government is really serious about creating jobs for Kiwis while we are in the midst of a serious economic recession, then it should commit to this important scheme nationwide."

The Business Council for Sustainability report Better Performing Homes for New Zealand estimated there were one million unhealthy homes in New Zealand, many of them in Dunedin.

Ms Curran claimed there were up to 40,000 residential dwellings built before the 1978 insulation standards came into effect in Dunedin, many of which needed urgent attention.

"The benefits are enormous. Healthy homes mean healthier Kiwis, better quality of life, lower power bills, lower greenhouse gas emissions and real jobs just when New Zealand needs them.

"I believe the people of Dunedin deserve warm, dry homes. I also believe that investing in warm dry homes to create jobs for Kiwis is just the sort of project we should be getting behind at this time."

- john.lewis@odt.co.nz