Meeting with advisors from Department of the Premier and Cabinet on 26 Oct 2023

Mandy Bamford provided the following update regarding her recent meeting with some advisors from the DoPC:

Thank you to everyone who has been contacting the Minister's Office. When I spoke with them, the officers said that they have received a lot of correspondence and the Minister is aware of the concern of the public.

The wetland is leaking quite badly so they need to stop the leak. The planned redevelopment is only Stage 1 of the whole project so they won't know the details of any future stages until the completion of Stage 1, so if the existing wetland is taken out, they won't be able to commit to a new wetland in the future, although one could be part of future stages if there is budget.

Since this meeting, members of the public have provided information about the build up of bulrush at the rear of the wetland, which may be acting as a syphon and causing the leak.  This happens if the bulrush isn't kept clipped back at the back of the wetland. This might be an easy fix, without needing to drain the wetland.  If this works, then it might be possible to just install a beautiful walkway over the existing wetland for connectivity between Beaufort and William Streets, with minimal modification.

We will continue to campaign for the Minister to consider this option. 

In future stages, perhaps recycled water, or the groundwater that is currently pumped into the river could be used to create a state-of-the-art, biodiverse city space with water filtered through the wetlands and used to water the lawns - low cost, low energy and low or no use of scheme water - let's keep thinking green!

Next Step- An Old School Parliamentary Petition - Event Sunday 12 Nov 2.30pm

On Sunday (tomorrow!!!!) starting at 2.30pm we will be at the PCC Urban Wetland to collect signatures for a separate paper parliamentary petition.

YES we are airing out our grievances to the government via an official channel.

We aim to collect as many hard copy signatures as possible and present it before the last sitting of 2023. If you would like a copy of this to distribute, please email urbanwetlandpcc@gmail.com .

Why not come down and enjoy the music of JUNKADELIC who have kindly agreed to provide some groovy entertainment in the vicinity while signatures are being collected.