The ACT Greens have called for a transformation of the Jerrabomberra Wetlands to build on environmental, recreational and commercial opportunities offered by the area.

Today is World Wetlands Day, and while the government is busy selling its proposals for urban wetlands in the Inner North, ACTPLA is proposing to build a large electrical substation between three ponds at Jerrabomberra and dig large trenches across the site for underground cables.

“The Jerrabomberra Wetlands have the potential to be a jewel in the Burley Griffin landscape, but right now it’s looking shabby and badly managed,’ said Mr Rattenbury, Greens spokesperson for the Environment.

“Jerrabomberra could be so much more. The area is well suited to play a role in improving the quality of water going into the Lake, and provide recreational opportunities to paddlers, walkers and bird watchers. A café or conference centre with educational facilities could provide an appropriate interface with the urban areas developing in East Lake.”

“But instead of articulating a clear vision for the site, the Government has sat on the Draft Management Plan for over three years, and is gradually letting the site fall into disrepair.

“Weeds and feral animals and a general air of neglect are the obvious problems; less obvious is that the water flows across the site are not being maximised.

 “Digging trenches for underground cables may affect those water flows further and until ACTPLA knows more, they shouldn’t be proceeding with their plans for underground cables,” said Mr Rattenbury.

“With today being World Wetlands Day, we need a commitment to transform Jerrabomberra Wetlands from a wasted opportunity in to an asset all Canberrans can be proud of,” Rattenbury concluded.

Tags: environment, jerrabomberra, water, wetlands

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 12:11 pm and is filed under News, Shane Rattenbury. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.