· Encourage the Council to prepare a Soil and Water Management Policy to apply to all development.
The Committee is pleased to see that a Catchment Management Plan will be developed for Narrawallee Inlet and the above issues will be addressed at least at our local level. The Committee will continue to push for the return to public ownership of Garrads Lagoon as we believe it plays a criticial part in the filtering of sediment etc for the developing areas of Narrawallee.
· Revegetate foreshores and catchment stream banks to restore their ability to act as water quality filters.
The Committee has for a number of years maintained a program of foreshore revegetaion. This has been limited by the available manhours (voluntary labourers) and to some extent access. Our main problem today is vandalism caused by landowners trying to maintain views or vistas.
It must be stressed that the Committee is limited in its areas of concern to those areas designated as Foreshore and Public Reserves. We would like these areas to be widely known and identified by the local community.
· Conduct a foreshore pollutant audit and change inappropriate practices.
· Monitor water quality using Streamwatch or obtain a grant to pay for laboratory testing costs.
The Committee believes that the results of these tests should be in the public domain, ie available for all to see without additional costs. Shoalhaven City Council already conducts sampling of our waterways on a regular basis, and has done so for a number of years. We would like these sampling sites and the tests and results obtained be published in the public domain also.
· Conduct awareness and education campaigns on environmentally responsible practices around the house and yard that safeguard water quality.
The Committee has prepared numerous publications but to date no funding has been forthcoming to publish and distribute.