Lowering of Louth Weir rejected by community

Bourke Shire Council General Manager Leonie Brown speaking at the public meeting last week on plans for the Louth Weir. Photo TWH

A community meeting about the proposed lowering of the Louth weir, drew a huge crowd to Louth last week, but many questions remain unanswered.

Garry Mooring, a long time Louth resident is one of many concerned about the NSW government’s intentions to lower the local weir by 400 millimetres to allow for construction of a fishway.

He said that last week’s meeting, held by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) was very well attended, thanks to it being widely publicised.

“I was really pleased with the roll up. That’s what happens when you advertise things properly and you want consultation with communities and stakeholders,” Mr Mooring said. “I think the government reps have gone away with a big list of what people require and what people are saying they will accept.”

Project Manager for Northern Basin Toolkit Fish Passage, Scott Fletcher, agreed the meeting went well.

“It was fantastic to see the turnout from the community and to hear all of the different perspectives in this very complex space,” Mr Fletcher said.

“We heard very, very clearly that any impact to the weir pool is absolutely not supported by the community. There continues to be a misconception that we are dropping the weir height by 400 millimetres overall. The original proposal was that we have a shallow V, which at the lowest point would result in an impact of 400 millimetres on two sections of the weir height, not the overall weir itself. That would then result in the weir pool being lowered from its current height by 400 millimetres.” […]

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