Lachlan, Forbes and Parkes Shire Councils are working together to develop a Regional Drought Resilience Plan.

The Condobolin community shared their invaluable insights and ideas to prepare the plan at a workshop in the SRA Pavilion on Wednesday, 3 July.

The purpose of the plan is to consider opportunities available to mitigate and alleviate the impacts of drought now, before drought impacts the region again. It acknowledges that drought events are part of the future of any area reliant on the agricultural sector.

With funding from the Australian and NSW Government under the Future Drought Fund, the project will allow the Council to use learnings from previous droughts and implement an evidence-based strategy to assist the community mitigate or adapt to future drought impacts.

These plans will be provided to the CSIRO for independent review and completed plans from across the country will be published on the Australian Government’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website.

“Working together with our neighbouring shires makes a lot of sense for this far-reaching issue,” Lachlan Shire Mayor Paul Phillips explained earlier this year.

“While the impacts of flood are close to mind now, we need to be ready for drought conditions that can occur at any time.  We will be working closely with our community to make sure that this plan builds on our existing resilience and is relevant and practical.”

Planning such as this is critical for Council to be able to access funding support for the implementation of these plans. We look forward to working with Forbes and Parkes on a regional plan that will really make a difference.”