Grampians renewal creates hive of activity
Grampians renewal creates hive of activity
22 June 2006
published by www.thecourier.com.au
Victoria, Australia — Bee hive boxes, built by the Victorian Beekeepers Association and Ararat Prison, are among the recovery initiatives for the Grampians Region Bushfire.
The Lions Club has donated $2000 toward 180 steel bee hive excluders – to stop the queen bee laying in the top box – and when finished the boxes will be donated to apiarists affected by the January bushfire.
The Lions Club is also lending fencing tools to small landholders.
Other initiatives for the recovery include a three-year recovery strategy by the Department of Primary Industries, regional marketing, rebuilding communities’ activities and ongoing fundraising events.
The DPI plan will include information workshops, pest, plant and animal control, and land erosion and waterway silt management.
A Rural Advisory Steering Committee has also been set up to implement long-term recovery activities for natural resources.
The task of getting tourists back to the region is the role of the Tourism Recovery Working Group which is running television advertising campaigns during the school holidays.
MOJO Marketing has also presented concepts for a regional marketing campaign for print, radio, television and Internet media – funded by the State Government – which will start next month.
For Grampians residents, community development officer Jonathon Osmond has already helped identify ways to implement community building activities across Ararat and the Southern Grampians.
Some of those activities include a community breakfast next month, live theatre, a festival, a touring photo exhibition and a regional book documenting the bushfire experience.
Meanwhile, the Grampians Region Bushfire Appeal has raised more than $200,000 with residents directly affected able to apply for money from Monday, July 3.
A distribution committee will decide where the money will go after reading individual applications.
An Appeal Grande Finale concert with Scottish singer Marion Martin will be held on Friday, June 30. Tickets are $25, concession $20 and available from the Stawell Library.
