Sue is a Sustainability Officer for the Shire of Murrindindi. With only 1.8 people in her department she has a huge range of responsibilities. Her job is to apply statutory laws to strengthen the natural environment, reduce consumption, promote solar energy and preserve plants and animals native to the area. We have a rare plant called a Round Leaf Pomaderris found in our Shire and efforts are made to identify and preserve it. This relates to planning applications, building permits and roadside maintenance.
Murrindindi Shire is 48% Crown Land which operates under different rules. Despite a population of only 19,993 people the Shire is a magnet for visitors, summer and winter. Coping with this and providing services for locals as well, leads to some conflicts of interest. We also have a huge deer problem. DELWP manages the alpine area, not the Council.
Decisions regarding roadside clearing, firewood permits, saving endangered species of plants and selective spraying of weeds always engender differences of opinion and interpretation. This, combined with need for fire precautions, make agreement hard to reach.
They have recently been working with local groups including Rotary to plant trees in Leckie Park and clean up along the UT Creek. They also involve Upper Goulburn Landcare and U3A.
Sue emphasised her motto of ‘STRONGER TOGETHER – BE VIGILANT’. Often the Council only becomes aware of problems when they are reported by the public so please do!
