NRNY Board Business Plan out for Public Consultation

The Northern and Yorke Natural Resources Management (NRM) Board’s three-year draft business plan has been released for public consultation.

The Board works with communities to manage soil, water, pest plant and animal control and biodiversity management to ensure economic and environmental benefits for the region.

The Board is funded by both regional levies and Australian Government grants and in recent years the Board has kept levy increases to a minimum.

Board Presiding Member Eric Sommerville said in revising its business plan for 2016 to 2019, there would be a need to increase levies to respond to a range of increased costs.

"The community is at the centre of natural resources management and we are keen for local people to get involved in the process to help us reach sound and enduring management solutions and to hear from the community in relation to the changes in the business plan," Mr Sommerville said.

"We believe our local communities understand the economic benefit that NRM activities generate in the region, through programs including feral animal and weed control and can provide value to our deliberations over budgetary priorities.

Mr Sommerville said the Board had prepared the draft Business Plan to raise additional income through NRM levies to meet increased costs.

"This includes an announcement in the State Budget that the Government will seek to partially recover the costs it incurs for Water Planning and Management activities to beneficiaries via regional NRM levies," he said

"We also need to meet the costs of additional charges for administrative services."

Mr Sommerville said in response, the Board is proposing an increase in both the land and water NRM levies in its draft 2016-19 business plan, to ensure it can continue to achieve all of its obligations under the NRM Act 2004.

Under the proposed increases, residential properties in the Northern and Yorke region, would incur an average levy increase of $7.92, and for rural properties an average of $18.96 per annum.

It is proposed that water licences in the Clare Valley prescribed area will attract a $100 administration and infrastructure fee, and the price of water allocated to each licence will increase to $29.58 per megalitre.

For more information and to have your say, refer to the N and Y NRM Board Draft Business Plan 2016-19, located at: www.landscape.sa.gov.au/northernandyorke