The Corangamite Catchment Management Authority’s (CMA) draft lower Moorabool and Barwon River corridor masterplan has been met with concerns.
The Kitjarra-dja-bul Bullarto langi-ut, or ‘places of many stories’, project looks to connect the community with the corridor stretching from near Meredith to the Barwon Heads Estuary through infrastructure, environmental and cultural projects.
Friends of the Barwon (FOTB) chair Trevor Hodson said he was concerned with how the plan would access funding and its effect on the health of the rivers and surrounding environment.
“Whilst it’s an aspirational document and builds on things like the Barwon through Geelong project, which they had previously, at the moment there’s no guarantee of funding,” he said.
“The other concerns we’ve expressed to the CMA are that, in many ways, it doesn’t do much for river health.
“One wonders whether increasing traffic through sensitive areas will actually benefit the environment and I guess that’s a concern I have that’s probably more personal.”
Mr Hodson said he hoped the river, its green spaces, and the associated Wadawurrung culture would be respected but worried about what issues the plan could cause.
“The health of the river and how it works is our (FOTB’s) primary driver,” he said
“You don’t want to find in 10 years, you’ve gone backwards rather than forwards.
“Personally, I would rather see more things directed to the health of the river, not necessarily making it more accessible.”
People for A Living Moorabool co-ordinator Cameron Steele said he still had quite a few questions regarding the draft plan and hoped the CMA would provide more information.
“We certainly welcome the master plan… and there’s optimism at the moment,” he said.
“I’m interested to learn about the plan’s protections and enhancements to the Moorabool River… as it’s a little bit unclear on how it will enhance the state of the river.”
The draft masterplan is available for public viewing and consultation for four weeks until 9am August 14 at engage.vic.gov.au/kitjarra-dja-bul-bullarto-langi-ut-masterplan.
