It was a pleasure to meet with The Hon Michael McCormack MP this week in his ‘nearly new’ Parkes Electoral Office.
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Joining me was Chairperson of Landcare NSW, Mr Robert Dulhunty and Dr Adrian Zammit, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Landcare NSW.
Rob has led the Landcare NSW Council and staff through significant change over the past several years, with the outlay of the Local Landcare Coordinator Initiative across NSW, providing an opportunity to employ over 70 part time coordinators over three-and-a-half years, resourcing and supporting communities. It was a pleasure to have Rob join us for this meeting.
As part of the important evolution of Landcare NSW as organisation who provide support to these roles over the State, Adrian was appointed to the role of CEO in February to assist with the process of transition. Central West Lachlan Landcare were pleased to welcome Adrian back to our area as part of this meeting.
We were fortunate to have the opportunity to meet with Minister McCormack, who expressed that he has always been a big fan of Landcare. We appreciate his support of Landcare NSW and assistance to enable the Landcare community to increase our connection with the Federal Government.
It is with funding provided by the State Government to Landcare NSW, for the LLCI and with the support of Parkes and Forbes Shire Councils, the National Landcare Programme and other project funds that we continue our work.
Funding for the existing LLCI will end in June 2019. Landcare NSW and Local Land Services are working to put forward a new business case to the State Government to ensure the continuation of the project over the following four years, which I have been fortunate to be part of.
Last month, Aurecon Infrastructure Advisory estimated the net benefits delivered by a supported Landcare community in NSW to be $500 million a year. I am not an economist, but I would say that this is a pretty good investment of $15 million over four years!
To extend and fully deliver a fully resourced, four-year program post June 2019, Landcare NSW will require $32.5 million. I know….initially you think, holy cow….that’s a lot of dosh, but when you distribute that to the 70 part time roles over four years and then look at the infrastructure required to support such a program, you realise that this is beyond good value for money!
The support from both State and Federal governments is crucial to be able to deliver Landcare across the Parkes and Forbes Shires and Central West Lachlan Landcare and Landcare NSW look forward to continued support from Minister McCormack and the Federal Government.
For further information and links to further information in this article, please go to our website at centralwestlachlanlandcare.org, our facebook page, cwllpo@hotmail.com or ring 02 6862 4914.
Until next week, happy Landcaring!
