Regional Victoria - securing a sustainable environment for the future
Regional Victoria has experienced first hand the impacts of climate change with more extreme weather including increased bushfires, droughts and storms. The Victorian Government is committed to working with communities across the State to help curb the impacts of climate change and work towards a more sustainable future.
What will happen in Regional Victoria?
Our Environment, Our Future addresses some of the critical issues that are affecting Regional Victoria as a result of climate change.
Through Our Environment, Our Future the Victorian Government will:
Keep regional Victorians informed by assessing, updating and assisting communities to tackle region-specific climate change vulnerabilities. Additional support will also be available for communities to take early action.
Develop a Land Health and Biodiversity White Paper outlining the extent and condition of our native vegetation across the State to help set priorities for government and community.
Extend Bush Tender by providing $2.7 million to roll out the project statewide (currently targeted Bush Tender projects are funded for the North East and Central Victoria), helping farmers and land managers protect precious native vegetation on their land.
Continue to support Landcare by investing $8 million to support the hiring of a State Landcare Coordinator and 10 Regional Landcare Coordinators and encourage more people to volunteer.
Improve biodiversity by working with local Councils and Catchment Management Authorities to explore how the planning system can be used to create ‘biolinks’ and improve the health of local ecosystems.
Improve Victoria’s rivers and wetlands including rivers, riparian environments and estuaries with a 10-year blueprint for on the ground action to be completed by the end of 2006.
Implement a Native Vegetation Trust to secure, hold and sell native vegetation credits required to offset urban and other developments that destroy native vegetation. The Government will invest $4.1 million for the project, which will see developers pay into a pooled fund enabling native vegetation cleared on highly valuable land in Melbourne, to be offset by planting and restoration elsewhere. An auction process like BushTender will then be used to determine where the offset should take place.
Establish an independent trade waste standard-setting process to enable efficient and effective trade waste improvement plans to be applied to each regional urban or metropolitan water authority.
Commit $5.9 million to implement Learning to Live Sustainably, which will establish a package of coordinated state-wide action programs. These programs will focus on areas like households, schools, local communities (including rural and farming communities), workplaces and community groups.
Provide funding to show sustainability in action including $3 million to establish six Eco-Living Demonstration House projects, seed funding to local Councils to establish community buildings demonstrating sustainability and funding to show the practical ways kindergartens, libraries, community centres, offices and small shops can be more environmentally sustainable.
Further develop the Transit Cities Program – a demonstration project that encourages high quality and sustainable urban environments – by investing $170 million across 13 Transit Cities including Bendigo, Ballarat, Latrobe and Geelong.
Invest $5 million from the Sustainability Fund to roll out Victorian Local Sustainability Accord projects. The Accord is a landmark partnership agreement between the Victorian Government and local governments on environmental sustainability. As part of the Accord all local Councils have been invited to develop a Local Environmental Sustainability Priority Statement. Over the next 4 years these new projects will be rolled out state-wide.
Commit $2.5 million over four years to develop Regional Sustainability Strategies. These strategies will make a significant contribution to the development of sustainable communities. They will also:
- set out the contribution each region will make to the State’s sustainability objectives
- identify regional needs, challenges and priorities and provide a sustainability context for other regional initiatives
- set out priority actions for driving sustainability.
These strategies will bring together each local Council priority statement under the Victorian Local Government Sustainability Accord and build on current natural resource management strategies.
The Victorian Government will also invest in state-wide projects relevant to all regions and suburbs through the Sustainability Fund. These projects are:
- $400,000 for Earth Utility to implement their Earth Utility Solar Service for use in Australian homes. Using an innovative funding model, this service will encourage people to switch to solar, in turn reducing carbon emissions and demand on the electricity and gas grid.
- $80,000 for Bicycle Victoria to undertake Cutting Greenhouse Gases – Young People Riding and Walking to School. This is a state-wide community program to support behaviour change in young people riding and walking to and from school.
What will happen in my region?
For an explanation of the benefits/impacts for your region, click on the relevant link below.
Grampians
Barwon South West
Gippsland
North East Victoria
North West Victoria
Metropolitan and Greater Melbourne
