News

Mallee CMA calls community to action

Tue, 08 Mar 2016 04:03:00

LOCAL community members are being encouraged to join the region’s Land and Water Advisory Committee, with applications open until 11 March.

The committee is one of two community reference groups that provides advice to the Mallee Catchment Management Authority (CMA) and, according to Board Chair Sharyon Peart, this committee is playing an important role.
“When we set up the committee in 2013, we wanted to get more community input into board decisions, and that has definitely been the case, but it’s also been really exciting to see that the outcomes are very much a two-way process,” she said. 
“The activities we do, the information committee members have access to and the people they meet are really giving them a much more informed perspective on the sorts of issues and decisions we face as a region and as a CMA. 
“They are seeing their own local areas more in a broad and complex Mallee-wide context, which is great.  We are also seeing that information and understanding is being passed back into local communities, which is also a terrific outcome.”
Members are appointed for a two or four-year rolling term and are geographically-based, with four representatives from each of the north, south, east and west of the region. 
The committee meets up to six times a year, alternately in the office and out in the field.  The in-house gatherings are information-based, often involving a presentation on a complex issue or activity and offering the opportunity for detailed questioning and discussion with expert speakers.
“These sessions have been a really good way to build a strong understanding among the committee members about more technical aspects and issues, such as fire management or major environmental works,” Ms Peart said.
Local businessman Bill Nicol has been Chair of the committee during its first term and says it is a good initiative to have every second meeting of the group as a field trip or visit, and held in a different part of the Mallee.
“These trips have been fantastic in giving committee members a first-hand look at some of the issues we talk about in the information sessions, or to broaden our understanding of what we are finding in a very big region,” Mr Nicol said.
“Because of the nature of the Mallee our committee is a really diverse group.  We have members from a dryland background, an environmental background, and planning or industry backgrounds.  They come from the broad-acre farming districts, urban areas, the Murray River irrigation districts and areas around Murrayville, which have horticultural industries based on centre-pivot bores,” Mr Nicol said.
“Some of the local representatives are really the experts in their own area, which is great, as in some cases, the other group members have only limited knowledge and understanding about places in the Mallee outside their local community.”
Ms Peart said during the three years since the advisory committee was established, it had been exciting to watch the skills and confidence of the group develop.
“In the most recent field trips, it’s been fantastic that the group members from the host region have really stepped up to share their knowledge and take ownership of the trip, by suggesting the sorts of sites and issues we can look at and almost hosting the visit,” she said.
“For instance at Robinvale, we took a focus on irrigation, salinity and environmental watering programs in the Lake Powell, Hattah and Carina areas.
“We had one group member involved in almond farming showing the group the environmental work he had done with revegetating buffer zones around his own company properties.
“That local pride and knowledge was the same in our visits to Birchip, in the Southern Mallee, to Mildura and to Murrayville, in the far west of the region.  Committee members are loving the opportunity to see things outside their own back yard, but the local committee members are using the fantastic contacts they have in their own communities and are prepared to share that knowledge for community benefit.
“I think it’s evidence that advisory committee members are recognising the opportunity they have and the growing confidence and trust we have developed both ways. 
“And it’s also a good sign for the future role of the committees and the quality of advice they will provide to the board going forward.”
Interested people can now apply to join the Mallee CMA’s Land and Water Advisory Committee, with applications closing on Friday 11 March 2016.
Application packs are available from the Mallee CMA on 5051 4377 or online at www.malleecma.com.au