River forum busy

Community members concerned about the Donnelly River came together for a public forum on Saturday.

After the Save Our Donnelly River Association’s first South West meeting last month, the association held its first public forum at the Manjimup Gateway on Saturday afternoon.

During the event, association president Anton Troy spoke about the organisation’s forward plan.

“Right now our focus is on the Southern Forests Irrigation Scheme but there is scope for the future,” he said.

“There are always ways we can better protect the Donnelly River’s environment.”

Before the questions and answers portion of the meeting, Mr Troy gave a speech about the association’s plan and objections to the Southern Forests Irrigation Scheme.

Topics included water trading, climate change and its effect on the river, sustainability, environmental impact and tourism.

Mr Troy said he was happy with the massive turn out at the meeting.

“Most of the feedback was it was a very informative meeting,” he said.

“It was about looking at the information in the scheme proposals.

“It’s clear people have issues with water.”

Mr Troy said the environment could handle the needs of agriculture, timber and tourism but there needed to be balance.

“But not at the cost of the environment,” he said.

Mr Troy thanked all the people involved with putting the event together and said people could look forward to more information and events in the future.

Visit saveourdonnellyriver.org for more information about upcoming events.