2021-12-07 Planning & Environment Committee Meeting Agenda - Updated

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                              7 DECEMBER 2021


The Land for Wildlife program offers members a range of incentives to manage and improve the
biodiversity values on their properties. During the 2020/2021 financial year:
     26 LFW members received weed management training and contractor assistance on their
      properties targeting Cats Claw Vine, Madeira Vine, Camphor Laurel, and Lantana. Area of
      land treated 9.3 hectares. Council investment $23,000. Landowner co-contribution – labour
      $13,417, materials $1460.
     55 LFW members planted 12,100 tubestock on 11.8 hectares. Landowner co-contribution –
      labour $91,190, materials $55,200.
For the 2020/21 financial year, there were 68 new registered Land for Wildlife properties with 5
new properties working towards Land for Wildlife. This includes 380 hectares of retained habitat
and 73 hectares of habitat under restoration. In addition to this, 82 existing Land for Wildlife
properties have been revisited in the same period.
It is also worth noting that from July to November 30, new properties signed up, which is a
significant increase in community demand from previous years.
In terms of Voluntary Conservation Agreements (VCA), as at July 1 2021 there were 20 active VCA
properties covering 336 hectares. Recent growth in landowner participation in the last two years
has been attributed to extra resourcing being allocated to program promotion and landowner
engagement. Five VCA properties have disengaged from the program due to change of property
ownership, however the covenant/nature refuge remains on the property’s titles, securing
conservation qualities in perpetuity.




Previous Council Consideration
Nil
Finance
This report highlights the need to consider future resourcing and ongoing support will be proposed
as part of the 2022/23 budget planning process due to increased popularity and community support
of the programs, subsequent success and program growth may have some future financial
implications.
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