Published on Thursday, 31 October 2024 at 3:48:49 PM
An overdue review of the 2008 Mount Hallowell Reserve Management Plan is set to begin under the guidance of an independent environmental consultant after Council endorsed a project scope and community engagement plan at the October Ordinary Council Meeting held on Tuesday.
The review will feature a months-long community engagement process, during which community members, neighbours and other stakeholders such as environmental and recreational groups will be invited to participate.
The engagement process will aim to identify what is important to the community about the Mt Hallowell reserve, what are the critical community concerns about the future of the reserve and how can those concerns be addressed.
A community-wide survey will be launched in the coming months, complemented by invitations to key stakeholder groups (including private property owners with a shared boundary with the Reserve) to participate with one-on-one meetings with the consultant.
Once the first stage of community engagement is complete, the consultant will collate and analyse community input, in addition to an extensive review of background documentation (including flora, fauna and heritage surveys) to shape a first draft of the Management Plan.
Shire President Kingsley Gibson said Council was keen to highlight to the community that the review process was starting from a ‘clean slate’.
“Knowing the high level of community interest in the future of this precious reserve, and particularly given the diverse environmental and recreational considerations, Council wanted to make sure the independent consultant was empowered to deliver a plan consistent with community expectations,” Cr Gibson said.
“We hope that this guidance and the transparent approach of publishing the review scope and community engagement plan on our Your Denmark website will give community members the confidence that this review will result in a Management Plan that reflects the very real challenges and priorities of the site, guided principally by community feedback.”
The project background, scope and community engagement plan are all published online at the review project page.
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