Minutes/Actionsenvironment & Waterways Alliance Reference Group Meetingwednesday 17 August

Minutes/Actions Environment & Waterways Alliance Reference Group Meeting Wednesday 17 August, 2016 – Windows on the Wetlands Centre Warren Present Rodney Price – DPI Fisheries Deborah Taylor – Bathurst Regional Council Tim Hosking – Senior Wetlands and Rivers Lynton Auld – Dubbo City Council Conservation Officer OEH Cassie Liney – Mid-Western Regional Council Stephanie Sutar – OEH Michael Chambers – Parkes Shire Council Ashley Wielinga – Warren Shire Council Nigel Hobden – Orange City Council James Cleasby – Warren Shire Council Maryanne Smith – Orange City Council Bill Phillips – RiverSmart Warwick Doulman – Cabonne Council Diana Kureen – Central Tablelands Local Land James Cleasby – Warren Shire Council Services Rowan Bentick – Lachlan Shire Council Cherie Hughes – Central West Local Land Services Kelli Robertson – Warrumbungle Shire Council Mick Callan – Environment & Waterways Alliance Brian Parker – Blayney Shire Council Guy Marchant – Narromine Shire Council Eric Alessi – Narromine Shire Council Craig Flemming – Contamination Central

Apologies David Waddell – Orange Shire Council Matthew Cock – Coonamble Shire Council Jon Francis – Orange Shire Council Brendan Hayes – Weddin Shire Council Wayne Gailey – Orange Shire Council Josh Devitt – CSU Wayne Beatty – Orange Shire Council Lalantha Senevirathna – CSU Emma Britten – Orange Shire Council Catriona Jennings – Western Plains Regional Damon Cupitt – Lithgow City Council Debbie Archer – Western Plains Regional Brad Cam – Mid-Western Regional Council Stewart McLeod – Western Plains Regional Sean Richardson – Mid-Western Council Ian McAlister – Western Plains Regional Julie Robertson – Mid-Western Council David Sherley – Bathurst Regional Council Rebecca Ryan – Blayney Shire Council Janet Bingham – Bathurst Regional Council Grant Baker – Blayney Shire Council Joel Little – Bathurst Regional Council Kayla Volka – Bogan Shire Council Racheal Young – Bathurst Regional Council Heather Nicholls – Cabonne Council Aaron McDonald – Bathurst Regional Council Donna Galvin – Cabonne Council Greg Lamont – Narromine Shire Council Chris Schumacher – Oberon Council Kerrie Murphy – Narromine Shire Council Felicity Taylor-Edwards – RDA Orana Doug Moorby – Narromine Shire Council Chris McCulloch – Central Tablelands LLS Guy McAnally-Elwin – Gilgandra Shire Council Jane Chrystal – Central West LLS Julie Prout – Gilgandra Shire Council Paul Devery – Cowra Shire Council Nathan Skelly – Blayney Shire Council Steven Campbell – Parkes Shire Council Andrew Cosier – Western Plains Regional Andrew Francis – Parkes Shire Council Melinda Jeoffreys – Lachlan Shire Council Maryanne Stephens – Warren Shire Council Reg Kidd – Central Tablelands LLS Belinda Barlow – OROC Don Ramsland – Castlereagh Macquarie County Council

66 Corporation Ave | Bathurst NSW 2795 T: 02 6333 2323 | www.cwcewa.com.au Presenters Rodney Price – Fish Ladders Bill Phillips – Windows on the Wetlands Ashley Wielinga – Warren Debris Raft Tim Hosking – Macquarie Marshes Tour Stephanie Sutar – Macquarie Marshes Tour

Copies of most guest speaker presentations can be found on the Alliance website: http://www.cwcewa.com.au/

Prior to the meeting the group was taken to view two different fish ladders with Rodney Price and Ashley Wielinga. A vertical fish ladder above Warren and denil fish ladders below Warren. The pros and cons of both were discussed.

Facilitator Diana Kureen

66 Corporation Ave | Bathurst NSW 2795 T: 02 6333 2323 | www.cwcewa.com.au Agenda Item 1 Welcome Diana Kureen  Meeting was opened at 2:00pm

 Acknowledgement was made of the Traditional Owners of the Land and their Elders past and present

 Welcome to Windows on the Wetlands (WOW) from Bill Phillips CEO RiverSmart. WOW now provides a learning centre, extensive interpretive signage and a coffee shop. It is the base for RiverSmart, although it is still hoped to extend activities the full length of the Macquarie River in the future.

 Introduction of participants

 Introduction to the meeting and outline of the content

 WHS considerations for the meeting

 Actions and Agreements from last meeting discussed

 Murray Wood has stepped down as Chair of the Alliance

 David Waddell is now acting in that role and Belinda Barlow from OROC has agreed to act as the Deputy Chair.

 As this is an interim year for the Alliance, the member councils were not asked to vote on a new Chair and Deputy Chair.

Motion: Minutes from the previous meeting be accepted Moved: Lynton Auld Seconded: James Cleasby

66 Corporation Ave | Bathurst NSW 2795 T: 02 6333 2323 | www.cwcewa.com.au Agenda Item 2 Alliance Update Mick Callan  Two more Councils – Bathurst and Narromine have now put the Report to Council, as prepared for all member Councils at the last meeting. The other Councils were encouraged to ensure the report went to their Council ASAP. Warrumbungle will follow up. ACTION

 An update of recent Alliance activities was given. These included:

 The newsletter, there was discussion about how worthwhile the group thought this was. It was agreed that emails are still a good form of communication, consequently it was thought that the newsletter should continue, but on a quarterly basis.

 Mick and Nigel presented at the recent Stream Management Conference in the Blue Mountains on the habitat island on Gosling Resevoir.

 Mick outlined the Superb Parrot program being run out in Bathurst, Blayney, Cabonne, Cowra and Orange. This is a hollow augmentation program and Mick has also been successful in getting a Norman Wettenhall Foundation grant to engage a student from Wollongong University to undertake an Honours Thesis to monitor and evaluate the program.

 A Noxious Weeds field day was held in Oberon for landholders, with Chilean Needle Grass and Willows being a particular focus.

 A second Hollows for Habitat workshop was held in Dubbo at Taronga Western Plains Zoo - after the Orange event - both of which were a great success. Nigel Hobden and the group applauded Mick for organising two very interesting and successful events.

 The next training event will be held in October and will be a workshop on Restoring Native Wildlife conducted by the TAFE - Western Sydney Institute – venue to be confirmed ACTION

 Grant funding currently open for applications include: Central Tablelands LLS LGov grants – close 26 August; DPI Fisheries Habitat Action Grants; OEH Environmental Trust; Roadside Vegetation grants. Mick is available to advise and assist if Councils have a project in mind.

 Councils were reminded to undertake the Roadside Vegetation Survey.

 Send items to Mick to put on the website, which is gaining an increasing audience. ACTION

 It was suggested that all Councils should put a link from their Council website to the Alliance website ACTION

 Changes to the Biodiversity Act - no Alliance submission was submitted as Mick received no input. Both Bathurst and Dubbo Councils put in individual submissions.

Other issues raised  Cherie to seek out further information on running a cat tracking program in the Central West LLS region. Parkes, Dubbo , Lachlan and Narromine are interested in joining the program, other Councils that are interested should contact Cherie. ACTION

 The next meeting is scheduled for 16 November in Orange at the Botanic Gardens. Mick informed the group that the Landcare /NRM group were interested in having a joint session to identify where Councils and Landcare could perhaps work more closely. It is envisaged that the afternoon of the meeting in Orange could be a joint meeting with presentations from the Environmental Trust and OEH, etc. There was tentative agreement that this would be worthwhile. ACTION

 In the meantime Cherie will provide details of the Landcare Facilitators in the Central West LLS Region. ACTION

 Lynton informed the group that there is a Grassy Box Woodland Day to be held at Geurie on 5 September. For more information go to the Events section of the Alliance website http://www.cwcewa.com.au/events/

Agenda Item 3 Central West Local Land Cherie Hughes Services Update  Applications are currently open for the Central West LLS Board along with all other LLS Boards across the State. So far, across the State. 284 applications for these Ministerial appointments have been received. Appointments are due to be made in September.

 The consultation phase for the Pest Animal and Biosecurity Review was recently completed.

 The Central West LLS Regional Weeds Committee, has yet to reach consensus on their Priority Weeds List. The State has now committed $22,000 to each LLS to assist in writing each of the Regional Weed Plans, drafts of which are due in December with the process due for completion by 10 April 2017. Additional to the Regional Plans will be an overall State Weeds Plan.

 Central West LLS project funding is looking at a Threatened Species project targeting the Barking Owl. As for Central Tablelands LLS, targeted outcomes are required, so further discussions with OEH are about to take place to finalise the program. The program is mostly looking at the Warrumbungle area, however after the meeting it was identified that the Barking Owl also occurs around Warren. It is uncertain if there will be a separate pool of funding for Local Government or if the Councils will be asked to apply under a general funding round.

Agenda Item 4 Contamination Central Craig Flemming Update  Update on the Contamination Central project, with Craig informing the group that the program is basically in the training phase, with more training coming up in September, including with planners. Writing quality conditions of consent workshops will be run in Orange and Dubbo. Workshops to be held in Narromine and Forbes in regard to waste and landfill issues, in particular moving soil from site to site and what is involved. Parkes and Oberon also have issues with this. This issue can also impact rehabilitation works when fill is being brought in. Additionally for biosolids, the Biosecurity Act overrides the Fertiliser Act.

 The Contaminated Land Information System (CLIS) Register moving along with more training sessions on data entry being run.

 Responsibility for UPSS supposed to be passed to Councils on June 2017.

 Policy adoption by Councils has been fairly slow with Council amalgamations are also creating some problems.

 Contamination Central/ALGA State Conference held in Dubbo in 31 May was a success.

 Councils are again encouraged make the most of free ALGA membership. Alga also covers salinity and groundwater vulnerability, etc, all of which are relevant across the region. www.cvent.com/d/6fqjv8

Agenda Item 5 Wetland Plants Diana Kureen, All  A session was run identifying the more common wetland plants and what to use where.

 It was agreed that for constructed wetlands and riparian restoration projects a minimum of 10 species should be used.

 Plants discussed included Phragmites; Typha; Water couch; Baumea articulata, Baumea rubiginosa; Bolboscheonus fluviatilis; Carex apressa; Carex fascicularis; Eleocharis acuta, Eleocharis sphacelata; Juncus usitatus; Schoenoplectus mucronatus; Schoenoplectus validus. Fact sheets from PlantNet and Bluedale Nursery will be on the Alliance website. ACTION

 All Councils are encouraged to share this plant information with their engineers etc and explain the benefits of using plants to ameliorate urban impacts.

Agenda Item 6 Warren Flood Raft Ashley Wielinga  A video of the debris raft that blocked the Macquarie River at Warren was shown, together with the efforts made to keep it moving under Warren Bridge once it started to break up after the second rainfall event.

 General discussion on the cause and content of the raft in relation to willows.

 Discussion on response of State Government Agencies. Agenda Item 7 Macquarie Marshes Tim Hosking  Tim outlined the arrangements for the site tour the next day including car pooling, and gave a brief overview of the content of the day.

Agenda Item 8 Site visit Warren James Cleasby and Tim Wetlands Hosking  The group went for a walk around Tiger Bay Wetlands lead by James Cleasby and Tim Hosking, who identified many of the bird species present.

Thursday 18 August Tour of the Macquarie Tim Hosking and Marshes Stephanie Sutar  The group visited various sites in the Marshes including an area that had been previously under agriculture and that is now naturally rehabilitating, after earthworks were undertaken to allow the water back into the area.

 Garry Hall of the Macquarie Marshes Environmental Landholders Association explained how his family have been farming on the Marshes since the 1930s. Many changes had occurred over this time including the inception of Burrendong Dam and irrigated crop farming, but they had continued to farm and adapt to these changes. Part of the property is RAMSAR listed.

 The group then went back to Garry and Leanne’s homestead for lunch.

 After lunch a National Parks Reserve was visited before returning to Warren.

Next Meeting – Wednesday 16 November at the Orange Botanical Gardens

Key Actions/Agreements from this meeting Key Action/Agreement Responsibility Priority Status Due By/Notes ACTION: All member Councils which All High ASAP have not yet reported to put Report, prepared by Project Support Officer, together with the Alliance 5 Year Plan to their next Council meeting and report back once this is done. ACTION: Councils to provide All Medium Ongoing Ongoing information to Alliance Project Support Officer for distribution on Alliance website and Facebook page ACTION: Councils to create link All Medium October 2016 from their website to the Alliance website ACTION: Organise Restoring Native Mick Callan High October 2016 Wildlife workshop ACTION: Provide contact details of Cherie Hughes High September 2016 Landcare Facilitators to Central West LLS region Councils ACTION: Central West LLS to Cherie Hughes High September 2016 contact national Cat Tracking Program to find out if a project can be run with Councils in that region ACTION: Organise joint Landcare Cherie Hughes Medium November 2016 and Council meeting Mick Callan ACTION: Upload wetland plant Mick Callan Medium September 2016 information onto Alliance website ACTION: Access wetland plant All Medium Ongoing information from Alliance website and share with relevant Council staff ACTION: Central West to access Cherie Hughes High September 2016 information in relation to Cat Tracking Program for Councils which have indicated wish to join program

Key Actions/Agreements from the previous meeting Key Action/Agreement Responsibility Priority Status Due By/Notes ACTION: All member Councils to All High Complete May 2016 put Report, prepared by Project d by Support Officer, together with the 7 Councils Alliance 5 Year Plan to their next Council meeting and report back once this is done. ACTION: A letter from the Chairman Diana Kureen High Complete April 2016 to be written to the General Murray Wood Managers outlining the agreement at the meeting to extend the current Alliance membership for one year to June 2017, due to the uncertainties surrounding Fit for the Future and proposed amalgamations. ACTION: Documents to be Mick Callan Medium Complete April 2016 uploaded onto Alliance website: - CRC Summary of Tranche 1 projects - OEH Frog Identification pamphlet - Policy and Guidelines for Fish Habitat Conservation and Management - The Blue Book - Living and Working on a Riverbank ACTION: More research on reports Mick Callan High Complete May 2016 of glyphosate as a carcinogen to be Diana Kureen undertaken and brought back to All the next meeting ACTION: Demonstration of steam Lynton Auld High Complete May 2016 weed control to be arranged for the Diana Kureen next meeting ACTION: Paperwork for Central Cherie Hughes High Complete March 2016 West Local Land Services incentive projects to be finalised