Barwon Downs licence group holds first meeting

THE Barwon Downs Licence Community Reference Group (CRG) held its first meeting earlier this month.

The 18-member group represents stakeholders, landowners, traditional owners and individuals with interests in groundwater extraction and river and waterway health across the area.

Southern Rural Water (SRW) convened the group in December to assist with community and stakeholder engagement on the application by Barwon Water to renew a licence for groundwater extraction from the Barwon Downs borefield.

The CRG is independently chaired by Shaun Cox, and it will meet at least four times in the next six months. The CRG will be offering considerable local knowledge, experiences, questions and feedback on the application, associated reports and submissions. It has been asked to provide a report at the end of the engagement process, guiding SRW’s attention to the key issues that community and stakeholders want SRW to take into consideration in its review of the licence renewal application.

Following the meeting in Colac on February 14, SRW also held a Community Information Drop-in session on February 18 at Barwon Downs Hall.

SRW has also appointed an independent TRP, whose members bring specialist expertise, knowledge and skills to the assessment process. It will provide a rigorous review of the application, and any supporting technical documents and submissions received through the public consultation.

Submissions close at 4pm tomorrow (Friday, March 1).

For more information, head to srw.com.au/barwondowns.