An Adelaide council is leading the way in climate action by considering a cool refuge area for residents to access on days of extreme heat, as a disaster resilience expert warns other councils must follow suit.

The Campbelltown City Council is seeking feedback from the community in its "Cool Refuge Project Survey" about whether it should provide respite facilities for residents during heatwaves.

The council's Manager for Environment and Sustainability, Maria Zotti, said Campbelltown City Council was committed to taking climate action and preparing the community for climate resilient futures.

"As part of this, we've been looking at preparing our community for the impacts of climate change and in eastern Adelaide, that includes hotter drier temperatures and more extreme weather events like intense heatwaves," Ms Zotti said.

She said on days of extreme heat, demand for public services increase including the library and recreation centre including the public pool.

A Cool Refuge Working Group has been formed within the Campbelltown City Council to get a range of diverse views about opening the facility to the public.

"We've got 12 volunteers from our community who put in expressions of interest from a diverse range of backgrounds, there are older people with disabilities and young people," Ms Zotti said.

"They're providing their perspectives and ideas on whether there is a need and if there is, what they need."

The survey results will also contribute to the decision on whether the council will facilitate the cool refuge during summer.

"With all this information we'll be able to have a look at what people say… we'll be able to see what's feasible and come up with a bit of an action plan," she said.

All councils should get on board

Professor Paul Arbon is the Director of the Torrens Resilience Initiative which improves organisations and society's response to disaster and crisis management within Flinders University.

He said heatwaves have significant effects on mortality and morbidity among populations and local governments should be adapting to climate change.

"There's been a change in the use of public spaces and the facility they provide over time and that includes really simple things like removing seating from shopping malls or how libraries are used," Prof Arbon said. 

"Those kinds of things have meant people don't tend to linger there in the hotter weather or they can't go there in the hotter weather.

"As that facility declines, I think local governments need to think about how they will respond to that, whether that means they make a location available or they change their expectations around planning requirements."

Mayor of Kimba on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, and President of the Local Government Association SA Dean Johnson, said there was a space available for residents within his council during extreme weather events.

"A couple of years ago, we installed an auto start generator onto our institute, so we've got air-conditioning and heating, a fully functional kitchen TV and movies," Mr Johnson said.

"So, if we do have power outages or those extreme weather events that are becoming more prevalent now, there's somewhere safe for people to go for refuge and respite."

He said all councils across the state should be adapting to the impacts of climate change.

"The extremes in temperatures are just becoming more of a normal now… The climate crisis that we're facing now, I think we all have to be realistic, and we have to set our sights on protecting those most vulnerable," he said.