A project to revegetate a major drain corridor in Bushland Beach to improve the quality of water flowing to the Great Barrier Reef is on the way.
Townsville City Council is looking for community input on the project design through Have Your Say Townsville and in-person consultation sessions.
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said the channel naturalisation project in Bushland Beach will help protect the Great Barrier Reef, while also improving amenity and reducing maintenance over time.
“We are a Reef Guardian Council and in close proximity to the Reef, so it’s crucial that we play a proactive role in trialling ways of enhancing our run-off water quality and minimising our impact as a city,” Cr Hill said.
“The aim of naturalising this drain corridor is to use plants and trees to reduce nutrients from stormwater run-off as our city grows. This offset approach provides flexibility for meeting our permit conditions while also helping to green the city and enhance our parks and open spaces.
“The next stage to getting this trial up and running is to consult with the community about the project proposal and the design of the drain, which will we be doing through our website and face-to-face consultation sessions.”
This Bushland Beach naturalisation project is part of the Bohle River Offsets Project which has been partially funded by the Queensland Government through the Queensland Reef Water Quality Program as part of the Cleaner Wastewater Initiative.
Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the Queensland Government had invested $1.21 million to help the Townsville City Council to reduce the amount of nutrients reaching the Great Barrier Reef by using trees to treat stormwater.
“This funding from the Queensland Reef Water Quality Program is being used to establish pilot programs through the Reef Councils’ Cleaner Wastewater initiative,” Ms Scanlon said.
“The strategically located street trees will capture stormwater and filter it to reduce the amount of sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus from running into the catchment.”
Visit Council’s Have Your Say website to participate in the survey.
