Bland Shire and Temora Council Drought Resilience Plan |
Regional economies will continue to be impacted by droughts, which are predicted to become more frequent and severe into the future. Drought Resilience Plans are required to identify the steps which communities should take to mitigate these impacts. People living within the Temora and Bland Shire regions are encouraged to contribute to the development of these plans by participating in locally held information sessions to provide feedback and options that would work best for our communities.
Temora and Bland Shire Councils are working with project partners WSP to develop a Regional Drought Resilience Plan. This plan will focus on the role of local government in building drought resilience and will be developed from the perspective that drought is a regional development issue; i.e. community level drought resilience depends upon strong primary industries and agricultural supply chains sectors as well as other businesses, community organisations and local government.
The objective of the plan is to:
- Increase understanding of the region's current and future drought resilience; including consideration of the region's unique economic, environmental and social characteristics.
- Identify actions, pathways and opportunities to improve drought resilience, mitigate risks and adapt to change; including identifying and scoping additional detailed technical studies.
- Place communities in a stronger position to implement strategic actions and take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
- Inform and support future Commonwealth, state and territory government, local government and private sector investment.
- Enable the region to identify and articulate drought resilience knowledge and data about the impact of drought on the region.
- Leverage and build upon existing strategic planning at the state, local, regional and issue-specific planning.
- Form stronger connections and relationships between and within the two shires.
- Support communities to consider the incremental, transitional and transformational opportunities needed to strengthen drought resilience and encourage innovative initiatives at the regional level.
- Facilitate increased community understanding of their drought resilience including by encouraging communities to share their learnings with each other.
- Encourage improved natural resource management capability through planning.
Bland Shire Council will be holding a 'pop-in' session for all community members to call in and discuss how drought impacts their livelihoods, mental health and family lives as well as any other important effects on Tuesday 12 September at Tamara's, 184 Main Street, West Wyalong from 10am – 2pm. All industry and community groups, regional and rural community leaders, regional employers and business owners are encouraged to attend.
Following the 'pop-in' session, a workshop will be conducted at the Ungarie Bowling Club, 5.30-7pm, also on Tuesday 12 September with all interested community members invited to attend.
