Weed appeal

THE Shire of Yarra Ranges is calling for the State Government to inject $1 million into weed management in the Dandenong Ranges.
Walling Ward councillor Len Cox says the current $120,000 a year the council gets for weed management is dismal.
He has called on the government to step up its spending and increase the shire’s allocation from $120,000 to $1 million a year.
But a State Government spokesman said the Government had already doubled its spending on weeds management.
Cr Cox says the current weeds funding for the shire was ‘nothing short of pathetic’.
He fears that if something isn’t done soon the weed situation will go past a point of no return.
“If something isn’t done soon it will be beyond fixing,” he said.
“You only have to take a drive through the Dandenongs to see how bad the weed situation is.”
Cr Cox has also called for the Government to put ivy on the noxious weed list.
It is currently only considered an environmental weed and not prohibited to be sold at nurseries.
But Cr Cox says ivy is a major problem in the shire because it strangles vegetation and stops regeneration.
He says when ivy spreads along the ground it suffocates any small and native plants.
“If something isn’t done about the spread of ivy it could explode and lead to an environmental catastrophe,” he said.
Cr Cox says driving from Montrose to Upwey through the hills it could be seen that the weeds problem was getting out of control.
“If you cleared out all the weeds along the Dandenong Tourist Road from Montrose to Upwey there would barely be any vegetation or trees left in some areas,” he said.
Cr Cox said the council has stretched its funding for weeds management to the limit.
The council allocated $1.3 million in its 2006-07 budget to tackle weed management, revegetation and tree planting.
It also allocated $150,000 for weed management in the previous 2005-06 budget.
“We have really pushed as much money into weeds as we can and just need some help,” Cr Cox said.
Cr Cox said increasing the weed management funding for the shire to $1 million a year would go a long way towards fixing the problem.
“We are more than happy to talk to representatives from the Government about our concerns but we believe they (State Government) has to put more money in,” he said.
“The Dandenongs is considered a holiday ground for a lot of Melburnians and a wonderful weekend resource so I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the Government to put more money into protecting that resource.”
Cr Cox says increasing the funding would go a long way towards addressing the problem and that the council was willing to work with the Government to make that happen.
But a State Government spokesman said the government has doubled its funding for weed management since 1999-2000 to spend $31 million in 2006-07.
The spokesman said the funds are directed towards protecting both biodiversity and the productive capacity of Victoria’s land and water.
“An environmental management framework is being developed and implemented across public lands, based on identifying and prioritising the protection of key biodiversity assets from the impacts of weeds,” the spokesman said.