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Churchill to benefit from Green Corps project

Churchill is set to benefit from a Green Corp project that will enhance the Eel Hole Creek area by restoring some of the native vegetation, and will encourage and increase use of the area by the wider community.

By Latrobe Shire Council - 1st June 2004 - Back to News

Green Corps is a Commonwealth Government initiative offering opportunities for young people aged 17-20 to participate in environmental and heritage projects in their local communities.

In announcing the project, Latrobe City Mayor, Councillor Darrell White, said work would begin in early July 2004 and would involve ten young people and a team leader.

"They will be working for six months to environmentally enhance and link together walking tracks in sections of Mathison Park, Eel Hole Creek behind the Monash University Gippsland Campus student residences, and the Glendonald Estate," Cr White explained.

"The result will be a connecting corridor that encourages pedestrian and bicycle recreational use, provides an enhanced environment for Churchill, and creates local partnerships and sense of community," Cr White said.

"This is also an exciting opportunity for the young people involved in undertaking the work, empowering the participants to gain a wide range of new skills which will ultimately improve their confidence, provide them with further job skills and provide them with an opportunity to take on further study," Cr White said.

"Latrobe City Youth Services will be assisting to facilitate the project in partnership with a number of other organisations including Landcare and the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority," Cr White added.

Project facilitator, Youth Services Officer, Jane Coolidge, said the potential for helping young people hone in on employment prospects was substantial. "We believe a great sense of pride will be generated among those taking part in the project that will help instil self-confidence and a sense of achievement," Ms Coolidge said.

"The young people taking part will be able to identify areas of their work they enjoy such as landscaping or nursery work, and we will then try and link them with employers in those fields, and foster work experience opportunities. That hands-on experience and the building of employer-employee relationships can make a great difference to a young person eventually gaining sustainable and ongoing employment," Ms Coolidge said.

Councillor Bob Smith said the areas where the work is being undertaken were already utilised by the Churchill community to a large extent and would involve community consultation and participation.

"The project brings together three community committees who already participate in the development of these areas; the Mathison Park Development Committee, Landcare Morwell and Churchill, and the Churchill and District Association; and it links their existing work together in a physical sense as well as a cooperative sense through the Green Corps project.

"The project builds on the existing accessibility and amenity already in place, by improving the natural landscapes with locally native plants, and increasing the user-friendly aspects with linking pathways, new seating and a shaded area," Cr Smith explained.

"The project will involve the committees and young people in walking track repair and extension, weed identification and control, soil erosion control, site preparation, planting, and design and installation of interpretive signs.

"Added to this is a strong component of education for the participants such as employment skills training, investigating local employment opportunities, plant identification, and learning and research regarding the indigenous heritage of the area.

"It’s a real win-win situation for everyone involved," Cr Smith concluded.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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