THE state government’s announcement of a landscape management plan for Camperdown’s Lake Bullen Merri might help determine responsibility for management tasks at the lake, according to a Corangamite Shire councillor.
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Cr Wayne Oakes said determining the jurisdiction of the various bodies involved in the lake’s management had been a problem in the past.
The lake area is on Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) land but is managed by the lake’s South Beach management committee.
Cr Oakes, a central ward councillor whose area includes the lake, said the council had done a lot of maintenance and upkeep on the lake’s facilities which do not belong to council. It had also addressed problems at the lake such as shortages of water on hot weekends.
A lot of work at the lake was also done by volunteers, Cr Oakes said.
“The volunteers do a great job,” he said. However, volunteers should not have to deal with such issues as deterring illegal camping at the lake, he said.
“There are a few things yet to be sorted out to determine the extent the council will get involved,” Cr Oakes said. He said he was keen to ascertain the management of the roads at the lake.
Member for Polwarth Terry Mulder said the government would provide $30,000 towards engaging a consultant to undertake the management plan that would determine where improvements could be made to the lake’s management.
Mr Mulder said DEPI would work with Corangamite Shire and the lake’s South Beach management committee to develop the plan.
He said the lake on Camperdown’s outskirts provided excellent fishing opportunities. It is stocked with a wide range of native and introduced species popular with anglers, including chinook and Atlantic salmon.
Mr Mulder said improvement works had already started at the lake with users now able to access a more permanent water supply at South Beach.
A DEPI grant of about $12,000 from the department’s Public Safety on Public Land grants program enabled the management committee to establish a bore.
The bore has provided clear, clean drinkable water for South Beach visitors.