Council on the weed warpath

A TASMANIAN council has received almost $90,000 to help it eradicate gorse in an important transport corridor to stop the weed spreading into wilderness areas such as Cradle Mountain.

The Burnie City Council has received grant funding from the Tasmanian government through its Weed Action Fund to undertake weed eradication works that impact valuable agricultural land and the state’s natural environment.

Burnie City Council Mayor Steve Kons said the council, the Department of State Growth, timber business Forico, TasRail, the WaratahWynyard Council and agricultural landowners would work together towards eradicating gorse and English broom from the road and rail corridors and properties along the highway between Ridgley and Waratah.

This area has diverse agricultural assets including cropping, high quality beef cattle and sheep bred for the local and interstate markets, as well as production forests

Production forest land nearby also includes conservation areas to protect the Highland Poa Grasslands.

“Council worked closely with the Cradle Coast Natural Resource Management team to gain the funding for this project, which stretches over three years for a value of $87,760. The total buy in for all stakeholders for the project is $260,000,” Councillor Kons said.