Parks Victoria opens public survey for new statewide land management strategy

The new strategy will set out what needs to happen to guide the protection, management, and use of all parks and reserves managed by Parks Victoria.

While the Greater Bendigo region would not be a specific focus of the new strategy, Parks Victoria director Peter Beaumont said the statewide initiative would address a number of issues in the region.

"We're not sure about the specifics just yet because it is a statewide strategy," he said. "But something like population growth is more relevant because the Bendigo region has a pretty good growth rate.

"With a larger population, there will be more people visiting the parks so we need to address that.

"The new strategy will also be looking at how we work with council. It's important that we can work with them especially where there is adjoining land.

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"Pest management will also be a focus, as will addressing barriers to accessibility to parks - not only for people with a disability but those who are culturally and linguistically diverse."

Parks Victoria have already received responses from more than 60 people since the survey opened a week ago.

"The more feedback we get, the better we are able to refine that draft material," Mr Beaumont said.

"In knowing what people love and enjoy when they visit our parks, we can get an understanding of what we're doing well.

"We will also be able to get more ideas on how to improve in ways we might not have thought of."

The survey will close to the public on September 29. A draft of the full strategy will be released for public commentary in April next year.

The final strategy is expected to be delivered in October 2019.

Mr Beaumont has encouraged people to head to engage.vic.gov.au to complete the public survey and find out more about the strategy.

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