Please see recent email sent by the council – if you would like to respond please do so directly to the council or to Roger.

I write to invite Heathmont Bushcare to respond to the above draft Strategy.

The Draft Water Sensitive City Strategy is now on public exhibition until Friday 21 August.

It details the need to improve the way we manage water to help Council and the community achieve the Maroondah 2040 Community Vision of a healthy, green, leafy and sustainable City. Water is central to our lives and we all have a role to play in ensuring this resource is wisely managed.

The key aim of the draft strategy is to help Council develop an integrated water management culture across the municipality so that current and future generations can benefit from secure water supplies, healthy environments and safe and beautiful places to live. Traditionally, water management has occurred in silos. For example, stormwater is managed in isolation from potable water, waste water and other sources of water. However, increasing demands for potable water, coupled with climate uncertainty resulting in greater rainfall variability and more frequent storm, drought and flood events require a more flexible and integrated approach to water management. This includes finding alternatives to potable water and more distributed (local and regional) water sources.

The Victorian Government supports integrated water management strategies and Council has received support from industry bodies including Melbourne and Yarra Valley Water, and the State Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning in preparing this draft strategy.

The draft Strategy may be accessed via the following link: http://www.maroondah.vic.gov.au/WaterSensitiveCityStrategy.aspx

To be considered valid, submissions should be received by Monday 24 August 2015. Further details about making submissions can be found at the above website.

If you would like to discuss the draft Water Sensitive Strategy, please contact Vivienne Fraser in the Strategic Planning and Sustainability team on 9298 4369.

We look forward to receiving your submission and to working together to make Maroondah an even better place to live.