Expert says Maribyrnong River’s greatest threat is development
While Labor has committed a cash splash of $200m to help restore the Maribyrnong River, an environmental expert is warning the true danger lies in overdevelopment of the city’s west.
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Efforts are ramping up to protect the Maribyrnong River a year after a campaign to put legal protections in place began.
The Rivers of the West campaign started in January last year to protect the Maribyrnong from inappropriate development.
The campaign wants to replicate the protections granted along the Yarra River in 2017.
The Waterways of the West Ministerial Advisory Committee have met twice so far and will be seeking input into a community vision, issues and opportunities for the western waterways during the coming months.
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Last week, federal Opposition leader Bill Shorten announced if Labor won the next election, it would put $200 million towards restoring rivers and waterways across the country.
Mr Shorten and Labor Gellibrand MP Tony Burke announced the investment would help build wetlands to capture, clean and filter stormwater, revegetate and plants trees along corridors and fund science and education programs along creeks.
But a lack of control on urban development remained the biggest threat to waterways in Melbourne’s west, according to Environmental Justice Australia lawyer Bruce Lindsay, who is spearheading the Rivers of the West campaign.
He said in the west, waterways were groundwater dependent — meaning they flow more slowly and depend heavily on rain water filtering through the soil.
Open space, storm water controls in planning schemes and water sensitive design were steps that would help, he said.
Mr Lindsay said Labor’s funding announcement was “a welcome commitment”.
In October, Moonee Valley councillors began consultation on the Maribyrnong River Precinct, with priorities including pedestrians, cyclists, events and indigenous flora and fauna.
And just before Christmas, the Victorian Fisheries Authority stocked the Maribyrnong with 130,000 estuary perch fingerlings.
Maribyrnong Council planning services director Nigel Higgins said the council had an active role in revitalising the river.
“At the launch of the Waterways of the West Ministerial Advisory Committee, the council received a $100,000 grant to construct a pontoon in Footscray Park encouraging more residents to use and enjoy the waterway,” he said.
The council has also installed shared pathways along the Maribyrnong River from the Heavenly Queen Temple in Footscray to the Quang Minh Temple in Braybrook.
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