|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Thursday, 29 November 2007 |
The Aquagen Water Board has approved a whopping $1.8m for environment
protection of the Lake Baroon catchment last Friday. The funds will
be spent by the Lake Baroon Catchment Care group to fund the groups
operations and on ground projects in the Maleny Area.
Aquagen board member and local Councillor Dick Newman said that this approval was the culmination of a years work with the Catchment Group, staff and board members. “This shows our commitment to the environment and sends out a strong message to other funding bodies that look for to fund match funding for environmental projects. It is likely that this fund will grow by another $1-2m over time giving us unparalleled funding for our local environment.”
The announcement follows a trend of increased spending by Aquagen on environmental projects in Maleny. Catchment Group President, Peter Stevens said that the group had matured in recent years. “We have a strong dedicated committee that includes industry professionals. That committee together with our dedicated staff and the many volunteers have demonstrated that we can deliver. We’ve moved on from small scale projects and are now looking to seriously tackle environmental restoration in Maleny.”
The catchment group have traditionally undertaken small scale projects costing around $5000. In recent years, they have been looking for larger projects that can provide substantial benefits to water quality. As well the group has undertaken many education activities with our schools and the wider community. The group developed a strategy for catchment protection had the strategy endorsed by Council in 2005. This document is now used to guide Council planning decisions in the catchment. The $1.8m will be staged over 10 years and follow a well documented strategic plan that will see most of the funds spent on private land.
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 29 November 2007 )
|
Range News 2005 - ON 
