An emergency meeting

A GROUP of more than 25 home sustainability assessors met in Brunswick Heads yesterday in an effort to protect the reputation of their Green Loans program.

A GROUP of more than 25 home sustainability assessors met in Brunswick Heads yesterday in an effort to protect the reputation of their government-funded Green Loans program.

The program has been criticised in recent weeks, with some assessors claiming they haven’t been paid.

It is believed that more than 10,000 assessors – instead of the original estimate of 1500 – have registered for the $70 million program.

Len McKelvey represents assessors in Northern NSW and South-East Queensland.

“What came out of the meeting was a collective decision that we would take a most positive view,” he said.

“We are the foot soldiers if you like. We know the benefits of home sustainability.

“We want to present to the wider public the substantial results that we have been able to achieve. We’ve had a lot of success.

“The group’s belief is that a disciplined action plan could have huge advantages. This program could be expanded into small business assessments.

“For the first time, we have a core group of trained people across Australia.

“The next task is up-skill assessors to the next level of professional capability.

“If we did that, Australia would be one of the leading countries in promoting home sustainability.”

Originally published as An emergency meeting