Community urged to influence water quality plan for Burnett Basin
Published on 14 October, 2004
Burnett Basin residents are urged to attend a series of community meetings to help influence water quality plans in their district.
The meetings will be held in the Monto Shire Council function room (Monday, November 1), the Gayndah Shire Council supper room (Tuesday, November 2), the Wondai Waterwatch Office (Wednesday, November 3) and CQU Bundaberg (Thursday, November 4). At each location, there will be an information/inquiry session from 11am-2pm to enable one-on-one liaison, and a community input and development session from 6pm-8pm. Details are available via 4970 7284. Community input will be welcomed within either of these sessions, however, and people are urged to attend which ever time suits them best.
The Burnett Basin includes all the waterways contributing to, and including, the Burnett, Elliott, Gregory and Kolan rivers and Baffle Creek.
The Burnett Mary Regional Group (BMRG) has commissioned the Centre for Environmental Management (CEM), Central Queensland University, to develop a strategic plan and prioritised actions for community based monitoring and management of freshwater, estuarine and coastal water environments in the Burnett Basin.
The project, already underway, will consider the capacity of the Burnett regional community and, in consultation with community members, develop an appropriate strategy and prioritised projects to be pursued over the next few years.
The Director of the Centre(and project leader), Dr Alistair Melzer, said that the commissioned project would define the community environmental monitoring and management program and facilitate the delivery of appropriate equipment for and funding of priority projects.
The project is conducted with the aid of a regional reference group that includes representatives from the Burnett sub-catchment groups, including: Baffle Creek Catchment Management Group Inc; Burnett Catchment Care Assn. - East; Burnett Catchment Care Assn. - North; Burnett Catchment Care Assn. - Central; Burnett Catchment Care Assn. - South; South Burnett Water Watch Inc.; Woongarra Marine Park Monitoring and Education Project, and local government.
Centre for Environmental Management staff working in the Burnett Basin are Dr Bert Bamberg, based at Wondi, and Victoria Rogers, from Tannum Sands. They will work within the community, meeting with regional groups and running workshops across the basin to facilitate the development of the strategy, identifying resource needs and prioritising projects.
Community members or organisations that wish to be part of this project are asked to contact Victoria Rogers (49707284 v.rogers@cqu.edu.au) or their regional sub-catchment organisation. ENDS