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IF Armidale is sustainable, good health will follow.

At least, that’s the thought-process of Australian Greens candidate Dorothy Robinson.

“I’d like to improve the health of this community, regional areas lag behind places like Sydney,” Ms Robinson said.

“We’ve got to do all the things we can to improve the health of our residents.”

To do so, she thinks the new Armidale Regional Council should work with health professionals and the university to develop a program to clean up the air in town.

Armidale frequently surpasses the maximum allowable particulate matter in the air from wood fires during winter.

Working with Starfish Initiatives, a sustainability charity, Ms Robinson has been working on a project to deliver affordable, cost-effective alternatives to wood fires that are better for people and the environment.

“At the moment people just don’t understand the benefits of solar design and using modern, efficient alternatives,” she said.

“If people can save money and at the same time clean up the air, who wouldn’t want to do it?

“Once people understand what it’s doing to their health and start looking at the alternatives they might think twice.”

As a Greens candidate, Ms Robinson believes there are only advantages to having party politics in local government.

“I support sustainability, I support ecological sustainability – most of the principles of the Greens, so why not say that?” she said.

“I’ve got experience on Council and there was never any issue that I didn’t vote on with my own conscience.

“If you’re doing your best for the community it doesn’t really matter whether you’re in a political party or not.”

The ability to draw on a wealth of knowledge and experience in lobbying state and federal government will help her hit the ground running, Ms Robinson said.

“Armidale has to attract it’s fair share of that money,” she said.

Council election nominations open July 31.