Darlington Point To Host Landholder Negotiation Scheme Meeting

Darlington Point and Wagga will host face-to-face meetings for Riverina residents interested in hearing about the draft Landholder Negotiation Scheme Regulation (LNS) and getting the latest updates on the Reconnecting River Country Program.

Director Reconnecting River Country Program Michelle Cavallaro said they were looking forward to meeting with the Murrumbidgee Community at Wagga and Darlington Point to discuss the draft Regulation and to clarify the scope of the Reconnecting River Country Program.

“Having a consistent and fair process in place that provides a step-by-step guide on how the NSW Government will conduct negotiations with landholders is a win for everyone,” Ms Cavallaro said.

“We recognise the Murrumbidgee community is interested in updates on the Reconnecting River Country Program, which is why we’ve dedicated a morning session to this program.

“It will be a great opportunity to come along and learn more about the two projects.”

The draft LNS will be used by the Murray-Darling Basin Plan environmental water initiatives including the Gwydir Reconnecting Watercourse Country Program and the Reconnecting River Country Program in the Murrumbidgee, at this point.

It will establish a framework for negotiation that can be applied to future programs across the state proposing to make enduring changes to environmental flows that could improve the health of wetlands and floodplains.

The LNS will deliver a clearer, more consistent and transparent approach to negotiating agreements for those affected by any proposed changes to future environmental water release arrangements.

The Murrumbidgee community has shared its concerns about the consultation timeframe and the need for in-person engagement, which has resulted in an extension of the public feedback period by three weeks, to November 24 to give more people an opportunity to have their say and meet the project team face-to-face to ask questions.

The two scheduled meetings will be:

• Wagga Wagga RSL on Wednesday, October 30 from 11 am to 1 pm and 1:45 pm to 3:45 pm; and

• Darlington Point Sports Club on Thursday, October 31 from 9:30 am to 11:30 am and 12:15 pm to 2:15 pm.

Attendance must be registered at https://water.dpie.nsw.gov.au/about-us/legislation-and-policies/acts-and-regulations/landholder-negotiation-scheme-regulation.

Morning sessions will focus on the next stages of the Reconnecting River Country Program followed by updates on the draft LNS in the afternoons.

Following these meetings and receipt and consideration of all feedback received, a What We Heard report will be published summarising submissions and outlining how feedback was considered.

• Topics:

• The Environment