May 11, 2023highwood2

Willoughby Council’s New Bushland and Natural Heritage Advisory Committee

From left: Adrienne Kabor, Scott Graham, Edward Coates, Gay Spies, Meredith Foley, Councillor John Moratelli (not on Committee), Lorraine Cairnes and Ross Wellings.  Not pictured: Mark Crew, Kay Donovan

Council has voted to re-establish its advisory committees. During early to mid-March, Council sought expressions of interest from the community in becoming members of these committees, including the Bushland and Natural Heritage Advisory Committee (BNHAC).

Advisory committees provide advice on the development and implementation of Council’s strategic priorities and represent one of the many ways that community members are able to participate in Council decision-making. In particular, the BNHAC will assist Council in achieving conservation of bushland and natural heritage in Willoughby through providing advice on:

  • Strategic bushland and natural heritage issues and policy development
  • The implementation of key projects and initiatives
  • How to raise awareness and promote behaviour change within the community or with existing organisations focused on bushland and natural heritage.

At its 27 March 2023 meeting, Council announced the members of the BNHAC. We have a mixture of familiar faces from the former Natural Heritage and Bushland Advisory Committee (NHBAC) as well as some new ones.

Lorraine Cairnes

  • Degree in Science majoring in ecological and biological sciences
  • Former Sydney Water Chief Environmental Scientist
  • providing environmental education to programs to staff and schools
  • Committee member for the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ).

Edward Coates

  • Venturer Leader with 1st Sailors Bay Scout Group for 30 years
  • Co-ordinator of Clean Up Australia Day in Sailors Bay for 23 years
  • Volunteer with Aboriginal Heritage Office (AHO), assisting with the identification of various Aboriginal sites.

Mark Crew

  • Griffin Reserves Advisory Sub-Committee member
  • President of the Castlecrag Conservation Society
  • Degree in Environmental Biology.

Kay Donovan

  • Bushcare volunteer for Retreat Reserve
  • Volunteer for the WCC propagation group
  • Site monitoring volunteer for the AHO.

Meredith Foley

  • Secretary of the Willoughby Environmental Protection Association (WEPA)
  • Willoughby City Council’s (WCC) Environmental Citizen of the Year 2023
  • Joint Secretary of the Federation of Willoughby Progress Associations.

Scott Graham

  • Bushcare coordinator for Sunnyside Brushturkeys
  • Member of several environmental facebook groups
  • Builds nestboxes for native animals.

Adrienne Kabos

  • Bushcare volunteer Sugarloaf Creek and Lookout Reserve
  • Volunteer Total Environment Centre
  • Member of WEPA.

Gay Spies

  • A long record of environmental activism
  • A core member of the Sugarloaf Creek Regeneration project
  • Vice- President of WEPA.

Ross Welling

  • Former Ferndale Park Bush Care volunteer
  • Former bush regen contractor
  • Studied a Certificate 3 in Natural Area Restoration.

With such a range of skills, experience and qualifications in bushland and natural heritage, we look forward to meeting the new committee members and receiving their valuable contributions in upcoming meetings.

(Article first printed in WCC Bushcare News, 1 May 2023)

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