New measures to combat erosion along Hunter River now open for community input

Maitland City Council is utilising State Government grant funding to address local concerns around erosion at three sites along the Hunter River.

The Vibrant River Education Program will focus on Morpeth, Lorn and Melville Ford, where extensive stream bank erosion has been caused by boating, loss of vegetation, and unauthorised vehicular access, resulting in illegal dumping. The program will introduce signage, points of interest, tree planting, educate on existing barriers and beautification at the affected sites.

Concept plans for each of the three sites are on public exhibition until Tuesday 26 March and community feedback will help inform works, which are set to take place between April and September this year.

'Day to day actions and activities can have long lasting impacts on the health of the river,’ Ms Lindsay says. ‘Four wheel drive vehicles on the riverbank and riverbed are destroying vegetation that holds the soil together, resulting in poorer water quality and further erosion.’

The measures mapped out in the concept plans aim to mitigate further erosion and also improve community understanding around the fragility of the riverbank.

‘Loss of vegetation, extreme water level changes and tyre tracks are all factors that lead to erosion along our river ecosystem – we want to make our community aware of these facts, and work together to address them,’ Ms Lindsay says.

Throughout the project, Maitland Council will also collaborate with Mindaribba Local Aboriginal Land Council in Morpeth, on interactive elements that offer new educational interpretation of the Queens Wharf site.

For more information and to view the three concept plans, visit mait.city/vibrant-river-education.

This project was funded through the New South Wales Government’s Coastal and Estuary Program.