Providing council with strategic advice on policies and plans, MEAC works to allow local environmental concerns to be heard by the shire’s leadership.
Run by a committee of 12, including two council staff members, and one councillor, which is currently Cr Claudia James, MEAC meets bi-monthly; however, committee member Marie Gerrard said the work did not stop there.
“There’s a lot of discussion and work that goes on between that,” Ms Gerrard said.
“The environment is a very big subject.”
MEAC provides council with advice on how to manage the environment adequately across the shire, which involves written suggestions, input into key strategies and projects and monitoring the implementation of the Mitchell Environment Strategy.
Aside from reviewing and responding to relevant council policies, MEAC also responds to presentations from organisations and community groups, such as a recent address from Inland Rail.
“In Broadford, they’re (Inland Rail) doing the three bridges there,” Ms Gerrard said.
“They’ll also be removing a lot of trees.
“We don’t just want the new trees put somewhere else, we want them back in the area that they came from.
“That’s the sort of recommendation that we make.”
Lately, MEAC has also commented on the concept design of the Seymour Community Hub, on the management plan of Seymour’s Bushland Park and on the new dogs-on-leashes policy.
A primary objective of committee members, who themselves are often part of other local environmental action groups such as BEAM Mitchell Environment Group, is to broaden access to the natural world, especially in the parts of the shire that are seeing quick developments.
“Mitchell Shire is such a varied shire,” Ms Gerrard said.
“We’ve got rapid growth in the south, which we comment on quite regularly."
Coming up for MEAC is the furthering of the discussion of a biodiversity strategy across the region.
“We’re moving into a biodiversity strategy, we’ve just started an early discussion on it,” Ms Gerrard said.
“But, of course, that’s a huge subject because with biodiversity in the Mitchell Shire, you have all these different landscapes for farms and wildlife, and wildlife corridors.
“I hope we get a chance to really comment on that biodiversity plan.”
Ms Gerrard also said MEAC would advance the planning of a disaster strategy.
“We’re also going to have to move into a bit of disaster planning,” she said.
“Seymour, in particular, has been through a few of those, with the floods.
“So, that’s hanging over us all at the moment.”
The current members of MEAC will have their place on the committee until April 2026, and the councillor representative is re-appointed annually at council’s extraordinary meeting in November.
For more information on MEAC’s objectives, visit mitchellshire.vic.gov.au/council/council-meetings/committees/mitchell-environment-advisory-committee or contact environment@mitchellshire.vic.gov.au
20°C