Local landowners are being encouraged to sign up for the upcoming Healthy Landscapes Holistic Grazing Management short course now taking applications until July 28, for the next group of students.

The affordable course is delivered through the Healthy Landscapes program, a collaboration between the City of Greater Bendigo, Macedon Ranges Shire Council, Hepburn Shire Council, Mount Alexander Shire Council, North Central Catchment Management Authority, Coliban Water and Melbourne Water.

City of Greater Bendigo Climate Change and Environment Manager Michelle Wyatt said it is a great opportunity for local farmers to be guided on how to implement sustainable land management practices on their properties using grazing animals.

“They will learn how holistic grazing can be used to support diverse, native pastures, healthy animals and productive farms and put these learnings into practice on their own property,” Ms Wyatt said.

“The Healthy Landscapes program won the Premier’s Choice Regional Recognition Award at the Premier’s Sustainability Awards in 2021, and more recently received a High Commendation in the Sustainability Initiative category of the 2024 LGPro Awards for Excellence.

“Previous participants have told us that the course has given them the confidence to implement the things they learned because there is a network of people doing similar things who they can troubleshoot with and learn from.

“They have said it’s a great way to meet local farmers and rural landholders who are also interested in improving their properties. It is a great community! The content is appropriate for a broad range of farmers and it helps landholders identify low-cost ways to start improving the health of their pastures and broader farm.

“The cost of the course is $150 per farming property and includes discussions and six visits to various farms, a visit to the participants property to develop a plan, plus online tutorials between August 2, 2024 to May 16, 2025.

The course is open to landholders across the four municipalities participating in the Healthy Landscapes program, including landholders in Greater Bendigo.”

Applications close Sunday July 28, 2024.

The City of Greater Bendigo Council last week adopted a planning scheme amendment introducing a buffer overlay around Eaglehawk Landfill to minimise future environmental impacts.

Eaglehawk Landfill is over 40 years old and remains one of the few landfills in Victoria located in an urban area with established residential, commercial, and industrial land uses within close proximity to the site.

The City commissioned an environmental audit in response to Environment Protection Authority (EPA) guidelines Best Practice Environmental Management – Siting, design, protection, operation, and rehabilitation of landfills 2015.  

The guidelines require local governments to carefully consider any potential offsite environmental impacts of a landfill before approving new uses or development within a landfill buffer area. 

The Amendment implements the findings and recommendations of the Buffer Risk Assessment for Eaglehawk Landfill, AECOM, 2019 (the Buffer Risk Assessment) and Section 53V Audit of Risk of Harm – Landfill Buffer Eaglehawk Landfill.

Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf said the council recognised the importance of implementing a buffer overlay.

“The landfill is actively managed by the City of Greater Bendigo under strict licence conditions, including the management of waste to reduce odour, regular gas monitoring and extraction,” Cr Metcalf said.

“A buffer overlay plays a key role because decomposition can generate landfill gas for more than 30 years after a landfill stops accepting new waste.

“To minimise any potential impacts from the landfill, the audit recommended planning controls within 500 metres of the landfill site to manage any potential risk of landfill gas migration and to manage off-site odour impacts from the transfer station where activities are expected to continue as a waste and recovery hub.”

Following a six week public consultation, Amendment C242gben was referred to an independent planning panel.

It concluded the amendment was strategically sound and should be supported subject to minor changes to the schedules for the Buffer Area Overlay. These were intended to improve the clarity of the controls and make them easier to apply. 

The adopted amendment affects 276 properties that are in close proximity to the landfill and the transfer station on the site.