The Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate has launched a plan to protect Canberra from floods, reduce pollution entering the rivers and enhance the Territory’s urban lakes and ponds.
Welcoming the Plan, Minister for Planning and Land Management, Mick Gentleman said the Directorate’s 10-year Canberra Urban Lakes and Ponds Land Management Plan was important to the city’s long-term lifestyle and environment.
“We’ve worked closely with the Canberra community to develop a management plan that protects and celebrates our urban waterbodies, while providing the community with plenty of recreational opportunities close to home,” Mr Gentleman said.
“The Plan now covers the many additional ponds and wetlands – such as the Kingston Harbour and North Weston Ponds – that have been developed since the plan was last reviewed in 2001,” he said.
“We know our community loves our local lakes and ponds, which have multiple benefits including holding floodwaters, controlling pollution and providing habitats for our flora and fauna.”
Mr Gentleman said the Plan did not include Lake Burley Griffin, which was managed by the National Capital Authority, not the ACT Government.
In its Plan, the Directorate said its vision was to enrich local communities through the aesthetic, recreational, sporting, tourism, cultural and ecological values of lakes and ponds, and to provide opportunities for people to be involved in their use, care and management.
It said this would be achieved through sustainable development and management and by involving the community in the planning, management and care of lakes and ponds.
The Directorate’s 70-page Land Management Plan can be accessed at this PS News link.
