Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan said recycled timber from the Woolgoolga to Ballina Pacific Highway upgrade has been successfully used to rehabilitate erosion hot spots including banks of waterways throughout northern NSW’s river systems.
It is part of an environmental initiative driven by Roads and Maritime Services, it’s delivery partner Pacific Complete, and the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), which supplies root balls cleared from the project, as well as logs and timber pins to be reused to improve the environment.
“Recycled root balls and timber is being used for restoration projects throughout the Clarence, Richmond and Oxley River systems, and during the life of the project more than 500 root balls and 800 timber pins will be provided to local groups for this vital work,” Mr Hogan said.
“Rather than mulching the surplus timber and the root balls, the project team has worked with local regulatory and community stakeholders to effectively combat streambank erosion and create new habitats for fish and other marine life by providing breeding areas, rest areas and shelter from predators.”
NSW Member for Clarence said the NSW Government received strong interest in the initiative from stakeholder and community groups including state and local governments interested in collecting root balls and timber pins from the upgrade to help with their environmental projects.
“This includes stockpiling 150 root balls for Local Land Services for their Clarence River bank erosion containment work and supplying about 225 timber pins and 17 root balls to Tweed Shire Council as part of a project to restore eroded banks of the Oxley River,” he said.
“The project team has also supplied 12 root balls and 28 timber pins to create fish habitats in the Richmond River and are stockpiling root balls for the NSW Department of Primary Industries which is improving Coldstream River in the Clarence River system.”
The success of the root ball and timber re-use program shows the benefit of having a coordinated approach, with Roads and Maritime, Pacific Complete and the EPA working together to deliver environmental benefits for the local community.
