mmg.com.au

Local opportunity to provide informed feedback on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan has never been stronger with the creation of a community submission centre in Deniliquin.

It was created by the Murray Group of Concerned Communities, who hope regional residents take advantage of the resource to help save communities from a flawed basin plan.

The submission centre will be open three days a week, from 10am to 2pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

MGCC chair Bruce Simpson said the the community submission centre was opened in Deniliquin to provide a centralised venue for everyone in the region to access relevant information regarding the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

‘‘The centre is about empowering people to make their own submissions to the MDBA,’’ Mr Simpson said.

‘‘We (the MGCC) want to be able to answer questions and show people how to access the information they need to prepare an informed submission.’’

Mr Simpson said the centre was a one-stop shop for people wanting information on how they can make a submission on the basin plan.

‘‘The consultation phase is the last chance for the community to have input into the basin planning process,’’ he said.

‘‘It is vital that we all get involved. We all need to do our bit, and that means everyone should send in a unique submission to show the MDBA that this plan will affect everyone.

‘‘After this, the state and federal government will have to judge whether the final basin plan presented to them by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) is justified, deliverable and balanced.’’

Mr Simpson said the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s proposal to redirect 2750 gigalitres of productive water to environmental needs would ‘‘cripple our community’’.

The centre will be open for the remainder of the 20-week consultation period, which ends on Monday, April 16.

It is located near Deniliquin’s Island Sanctuary on the junction of Cressy and End Sts.