A NEW Maude, Meredith and Districts Landcare Group has been established following the amalgamation of two neighbouring branches.<\/p>\n
Combining the Maude and District Landcare with the Bamganie-Meredith and District group, an inaugural meeting took place last week and member Laura Hollingsworth said the merge will create a better group for the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re joining together to become a larger, hopefully stronger group in numbers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got people come in here with great ideas. The Maude group still has Spiller\u2019s Bridge in Maude to do and then we\u2019ll be able to move onto projects closer to Meredith.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know the Meredith-Bamganie group got to the point where their numbers were very low so they approached us to merge and create that outreach.\u201d<\/p>\n
The combined group will cover the Maude area from Sullivan\u2019s Creek up through the Moorabool River to SheOaks and into Meredith towards Stieglitz.<\/p>\n
The Maude and District Landcare Group had between 15 and 20 active members and has been running for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n
The Meredith-Bamganie group had been in operation for a similar length of time, and treasurer Nerida Anderson said the amalgamation will help them continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very excited to be joining with the Maude group,\u201d she said. \u201cFor us it\u2019ll mean a greater reach and a more sustainable approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be able to put on more functions and activities, so I\u2019d be hoping for the area it will be a reinvigoration for Landcare around here.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was becoming less relevant for people in the area. It\u2019s more difficult for smaller groups and it\u2019s not unusual for groups in our situation to merge.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s happening in other areas too where it\u2019s becoming increasingly difficult to operate as a smaller group. We really needed some scale involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Hollingsworth said their annual initiatives like their recent rabbit baiting program, which saw more than 30 orders, will continue under the merger.<\/p>\n
She said the amalgamation highlights the difficulty in recruiting for Landcare.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to get people to volunteer,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily getting people to come to our events which are often quite successful.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople love the concept of Landcare as a whole but it can be a bigger commitment than they expect.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A NEW Maude, Meredith and Districts Landcare Group has been established following the amalgamation of two neighbouring branches. Combining the Maude and District Landcare with the Bamganie-Meredith and District group, an inaugural meeting took place last week and member Laura Hollingsworth said the merge will create a better group for the region. \u201cWe\u2019re joining together […]<\/p>\n