Published on Tuesday, 2 April 2024 at 12:52:53 PM
On Saturday the 23rd of March the Shire took part in the Blackwood Regen Fest held at the Ashbil Community Garden in Bridgetown.
In keeping with the theme of the festival, we REused the 'Lemons in Lemonade' stall that we created for the Bridgetown Show back in November, particularly as it worked so well to engage with our community.
This time Councillors and staff asked community to specifically share their top 3 environmental issues. This gives us an opportunity to get an understanding of community concerns, expectations and take this information on board when making plans for the future.
The list below is compiled from the community's contributions and we and we are pleased to say we feel like we are on track in relation to many of these, while others will take some time to digest and consider.
🌏 Geegeelup brook regeneration & beautification. Flood mitigation strategies.
🌏 Water resilience and sustainability
🌏 Water quality and flow of the Blackwood River
🌏 All new builds to have 1000L minimum rainwater tanks
🌏 Verge plantings - work in collaboration with BES Blackwood Environment Society for native plantings and subsidise.
🌏 Workshops on revegetating & managing verges
🌏 Street tree health. Plant more trees. Restrictions on tree felling.
🌏 More areas in parks to provide habitat and support biodiversity
🌏 Education on water scarcity, where town water cones from (Yarragadee aquifer) and not filling up swimming pools
🌏 Bushfire mitigation to ensure the township is protected from a wildfire event.
🌏 Food security & sovereignty. Support localisation of industries like small abattoir to help smaller farms in providing quality grass fed meats to community.
🌏 Hester mulch - has it been tested?
🌏 Waste minimisation. Waste management in homes & local government. More enforcement on litter rules. Green waste bins.
🌏 Recycling more materials at the tip. Landfill diversion. Reopen tip shop.
🌏 Biosecurity - foxes, rabbits, weeds
🌏 Climate change adaptation
🌏 Pink & Grey Gallah control
🌏 Ban glyphosate and biocides
🌏 Low/no waste events
🌏 Talison pollution - noise, light, dust
🌏 Habitat destruction by/for Talison mine
🌏 A refocus on nature & nurture
🌏 More science-based education
🌏 Renewable energy
🌏 Support local large farms in their transition to regenerative agricultural practices
🌏 Ask not what the Shire can do, but what the community is willing to do & contribute.
🌏 Plastic waste.
🌏 Tunnelling & soil erosion.
🌏 Alternative housing and subdivision in-fill - but tree canopy protection as well.
🌏 Building regulations to deal with drought and heat.
🌏 Dog off lead exercise areas. Dog poop bags.
Congratulations to the organisers of the festival which was a great success and thank you to the Councillors and staff who were a part of this and to everyone who stopped to engage with us. We hope you liked your lemonade recipe! We though we would add it here for anyone who missed out!
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