MADRA News - 2 March 2023

Timber Milling project

Michelle Dowsett from the East Gippsland Community Foundation attended a MADRA committee meeting at the end of February to talk about possible funding for the projects that we’ve currently prioritised. One of these is the East Gippsland Timber Milling Project which could greatly benefit the broader Mallacoota district but is urgently in need of ongoing funding to get underway. The next step is to invite representatives of the milling project to our next meeting to talk more about the project and determine whether the EGCF funds would be put to good purpose.

Wilderness Collective sessions

Paris Brooke and Mary O’Malley from the Wilderness Collective also attended the February meeting and gave a presentation of the exciting projects underway already and an outline of their upcoming plans. In March they’ll be hosting sessions talking about ‘Big Ideas for a thriving Mallacoota’. Some of the ideas to be discussed are community ownership of business and how to create a thriving local economy that gives back to the town. The workshops run between the 7th and 9th of March at various times. Look out for more details on social media and in the Mouth.

Fuel Management

The community members of the Fuel Management Group will be taking a field trip around Mallacoota this week to look at various sites – we’re interested to see what’s been happening in the areas that have been mulched and to have a look at the Commercial Road site which is next on the list. If you don’t already have the FMG booklet ‘Safer forests Safer Homes’, there are still copies available at the Post Office.

MADRA committee members attended a meeting with Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp and various Agency reps this week to discuss fuel management around Mallacoota and District. This was a follow-up to a session held last September that addressed local issues raised by the MADRA committee. This week’s meeting will be an opportunity to catch up on the work of the relevant agencies and to give some feedback on the progress to date. We’ll give a precis of the meeting in our next update.

Pittosporum Walk

Anyone who has been accessing the beautiful swimming spot at the end of the Devlin’s Gully walk over the summer may be wondering about the slow progress on rebuilding the boardwalk and re-opening the Pittosporum Walk that joins Devlin’s Gully to Bastion Point. The delay is due to the need for Cultural Heritage assessment and associated work and this section of the walk is still in the queue for that work to be done.

Genoa-Mallacoota Rd upgrade

MADRA received an update on the Genoa-Mallacoota Road upgrade in February. Further investigations over the next six months will include cultural and environmental assessments, preliminary design and native title assessments. The results of these will contribute to a program of works. An update on when the works are likely to begin is expected mid-year.

Postcard feedback

There’s been a strong response to the postcards sent out late last year and now we’re in the process of gathering the returned cards and collating the feedback. Once that’s done we look forward to discussing the ideas, issues and opinions at a community get-together and talking about how to put substance behind some of these great ideas! Thanks to all for heartily engaging with the project.

Postcards can still be returned to the MADRA suggestion boxes outside Salt Home & Living and the Post Office at Genoa for a couple more weeks.

The next MADRA committee meeting will be on the 7th of March.

Thanks, MADRA