Raymond Island community consultation: managing the risk of bushfire
Managing the
risk of bushfires on
Raymond
Island
and
its plants and
animals is a complex issue
that
generates a
range of sentiments and
opinions.
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and Parks Victoria have already heard from some Raymond
Island
residents regarding
their concerns about the
management of bushfire risk on
the
island.
DELWP and
Parks Victoria will be conducting further community consultation
to
explore these
issues, working together to develop an
appropriate fuel management program to address bushfire risk and
environmental
health on the island.
DELWP District Manager, Brad Fisher said: “We
want to
discuss the options for the island, its residents, its vegetation
and wildlife
and
find solutions that are
supported
by DELWP and the majority of the community.”
“The first step in the process is to seek expressions of interest from those residents who would like to
be part of a working group. This group
will work with
a small number of agency staff to determine
and oversee
each step of the consultation
process and
ensure
an effective, thorough and reasonable process has taken place.”
This group will not be a forum for discussing
the
issues or guiding the outcome of the
consultation.
If you are
a resident of Raymond Island and
are
interested in being
a part of this working group, please
submit a brief expression of interest to Warwick Hall.
Mr Hall will, with other community members and
DELWP and Parks Victoria
staff consider the
applications
for the
working
group. Please
include the area of interest and expertise that you bring which
will add value to the process, which aims to be collaborative in
nature and inclusive of the
broader community.
Expressions of interest for this group will close Friday 21
August to
allow residents who
are currently away
during the winter period to be included in the process.
The
broader community consultations will take place
from September to
November.
DELWP will
communicate through the Raymond Island
newsletter, the
Raymond Island Community Network website, the Landcare notice
board and the ferry hub.
DELWP is grateful to
the
group
of
community members who joined them to
begin scoping
this consultation process, and thank them for their time
and effort. The
notes of that meeting are also
available at the above- mentioned
posts.
DELWP is looking forward to working with the community on this complex issue.
Article appeared in Bairnsdale Advertiser, 13 July 2015.
