Hobsons Bay City Council has formally adopted an updated strategy to value and protect its unique biodiversity, which includes more than 330 hectares of conservation reserves.
The Biodiversity Strategy 2024-34 provides a long-term policy to protect the natural environment in Hobsons Bay, which includes remnant native grasslands, five waterways, beaches and foreshore areas, and internationally significant wetlands.
The four goals of the strategy – protect, restore, engage and collaborate – provide the guiding framework for Council’s actions.
Community feedback on the draft of the strategy in September and October helped identify changes made to the final policy, which was adopted by Council at its meeting on December 12. Those changes included:
- strengthening recommendations for domestic animal issues affecting significant biodiversity areas
- including an action to pursue regular parks enforcement activities to ensure greater protection of biodiversity, and
- strengthening recommendations for native plantings in public and private areas to prioritise remnant areas and corridors of significance.
Quotes attributable to Mayor of Hobsons Bay, Cr Matt Tyler:
“We have an incredibly diverse environment here in Hobsons Bay and it’s important that we work hard to protect it, so it thrives for many years to come. I’m particularly pleased to see work planned to explore the introduction of an environmental significance overlay to protect native grasslands.
“This strategy gives us a guide for the next decade to make sure we’re keeping our grasslands, foreshores and wetlands in the best condition they can be.”
