Vegetation Committee To Commence Public Forums

September 17, 1999 Tumut & Adelong Times

The Riverina Highlands Regional Vegetation Committee is about to hold its first in a series of public information forums which aim to raise awareness within the community about the regional vegetation management planning process currently being undertaken in the region.

The forums provide the opportunity for members of the community to have their say on the native vegetation issues that concern them in the Riverina Highlands.

The first forum is to be held on September 28, at the Glenroy Recreation Reserve, Wagga Road, Tumbarumba.

The Riverina Highlands Regional Vegetation Committee was established to develop a Plan for the area that covers all of Holbrook, Tumut and Tumbarumba Shires and parts of Wagga Wagga City, Gundagai and Hume Shires.

This occurred after the NSW Government developed a partnership with the community to address native vegetation decline. Under the Native Vegetation Conservation Act 1997, Regional Vegetation Committees, made up of community, industry and government representatives, are being set up throughout NSW to develop Regional Vegetation Management Plan (RVMP's).

Having agreed on what the RVMP for the Riverina Highlands should achieve, the Riverina Highlands Regional Vegetation Committee is shifting its focus towards the technical and communications tasks necessary for the drafting of the RVMP.

The technical group, for starters, is identifying planning zones on which to base the Plan. Once defined, these planning zones will be used to determine where clearing consent will be required, where it will not and where exemptions exist.

The communications group is currently circulating a fact sheet and a brochure which aims to raise awareness about some of the native vegetation issues in the Riverina Highlands.