By JESSE GRAHAM
YARRA Ranges Council has mapped its environmental future with the release of its 10-year Environment Strategy last week, following over a year of consultations.
Councillors endorsed the Environment Strategy unanimously at their meeting on Tuesday 24 March, before launching the document officially the next morning at the Mount Evelyn Aqueduct Reserve.
The document outlines six general goals for the council in regards to its attitude to the environment:
That iconic places and their natural character are actively protected; that water resources are improved and preserved; that native plants and animals are protected and that their habitat is enhanced; local economies are strengthened by environmentally sustainable activities; that communities are resilient in the face of changing climate and extreme events; and that all who live and work in the Yarra Ranges see themselves as stewards of the environment.
The council’s manager of Parks and Environment, David Harper, said the strategy was made as a result of extensive consultation both before and after the draft document was made.
Yarra Ranges mayor, Maria McCarthy, said that officers tried to engage all groups of people, through handing out pamphlets and links to online consultation pages at community markets and train stations.
Cr McCarthy said one of the keys to the consultation was breaking the strategy into key areas, such as fire, liveable communities and weeds and pests, and laying out issues in simple terms.
“It is a document that is easy to work with and … a document that is in simple terms for the general public to understand our vision for what we want to achieve for our environment,” she said.
As part of the consultation, Yarra Ranges Council representatives met with farmers in the Yarra Valley in March 2014, who said they felt they weren’t represented by the council currently.
Issues raised by the farmers included needing permits to remove certain types of trees, which they said were unnecessary, as well as interacting with council and Yarra Valley Water on rivers and waterways on properties.
Mr Harper said the new strategy would inform council’s decisions regarding the environment, and that he hoped each group in the community felt their voice was represented.
“The meeting we had with Yarra Glen farmers in Hoogies was a very powerful meeting,” Mr Harper said.
“I hope that they see a lot more of themselves in this strategy.
“I guess, really, what the strategy is doing is giving us directions for the future and setting a tone of how council wants to work in the future, and working with landholder groups, such as the graziers of the Yarra Valley, is one of the important things that we’re going to focus on in the next 10 years.”
While the council’s Environment Strategy is set over the 2015-2025 period, Mr Harper said it would be reviewed every five years. To view the full Yarra Ranges Council Environment Strategy 2015-2025, visit www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au.
