Last week the State Labor Party made their official announcement of support for Landcare in NSW.

Labor Leader, Mr Michael Daley, announced that if elected, they would support Landcare, Bushcare and Rivercare across NSW over the next four years, with an investment of $32.5 million. This support enables part time employment of over 60 coordinators, over 3,000 groups and with significant investment in local communities.

This announcement came after the Liberals and Nationals announced that if re-elected their Government would invest $22.4 million through the Local Landcare Coordinator Initiative.

Both of these funding proposals also include the addition of 11 new roles of regional coordinators.

The additional funding proposed by Labor will also introduce a new indigenous program that will be outlaid through this initiative, which is a very exciting addition.

Turning to local Landcare news, last night Central West Lachlan Landcare (CWLL) held their first meeting for the year. The Committee were very excited to be looking at upcoming projects for 2019 and had the opportunity to give final sign off on our Strategic Plan.

Strategic Plans have changed so much over the past ten years. Once a labour intensive, gruelling document that tied down every last inch of your expectation and how it was going to be implemented, is now an overview of what you wish to achieve and parameters that you want to achieve it under. Other supporting documents and plans lay the groundwork for how this is implemented.

Keep an eye out for that on our website in the week ahead. We will, of course, share the link via our newsletter and social media.

I also wanted to flag one of our upcoming events for your diary. With the support of the Central West Local Land Services and the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program, we are hosting a bus trip to Burrendong Arboretum on April 24. I am now taking expressions of interest, so please feel free to contact me on cwllpo@hotmail.com or on 0418 611 053.

For more information, go to our website at www.centralwestlachlanlandcare.org. Until next week, happy Landcaring!