Northparkes Mines (NPM) volunteers have planted more than a quarter of the total 9,000 plants put in so far at PAC Park. The community effort to revegetate the banks of the wetland with 15,000 plants by spring is progressing well with about 4,300 planted by NPM volunteers.
Under the Northparkes Mines Volunteer Leave Program, employees are encouraged to do two volunteer days per year. Linda Snyman, who organised ten employees of the mining operations technical services team to do a planting session last week, said they wanted to do something physically challenging. “I would also like to see the area beautified and used by the community,” Linda said.
Other community groups involved so far include Parkes High School, Parkes Christian School, Currajong Disability Services, House With No Steps (Lachlan Branch) and the Motley Crew of Central West Lachlan Landcare. “The efforts of all volunteers on this project has been fantastic, and it’s especially great that the NPM Volunteer Leave Program were keen to contribute their valuable time to this project for two separate planting days,” said Michael Chambers, Environmental and Sustainability Coordinator of the Parkes Shire Council.
Managed by Parkes Shire Council, the PAC Park project aims to rejuvenate the waterway and the entire park. It is hoped that establishing strong partnerships with community and school groups they would engage community members and encourage a sense of ownership over the area. Funding for the project was provided through three different NSW Government agencies including the Local Government NSW ‘Building Resilience to Climate Change’ program and the Central West Local Land Services ‘Natural Resource Management for Local Government’ program.
Any school or community group interested in doing some planting would be greatly welcomed by Michael. Please contact him at the Parkes Shire Council on 6861 2349.
By Maggi Barnard