Merri Creek Management Committee

This page discusses steps that might be taken to prepare for setting up a new community-based (but not volunteer-based) catchment management group similar to Merri Creek Management Committee. The suggestions included here are based on MCMC's experience, and may not apply to other catchments. An excellent guide to setting up a rehabilitation strategy for waterways in Australia is provided on CD by Land & Water Australia "A process for Rehabilitating Australian Streams". The CD doesn't deal with establishing new community-based organisations for undertaking waterway rehabilitation, however being clear on the strategy will help with being clear about the organisation.

You should anticipate spending your first year clarifying your aims, assessing the individual, community and agency players involved, consulting them and interesting them in the setting up of a group, and then designing the group's objectives and structure.

Firstly, develop for yourself an inspiring statement of your objectives

Consider - are the existing players already doing an excellent job? If so it might be better just to throw your energy behind them, without wasting energy on a new group. In MCMC's case the existing players were doing a poor job.

Consider - is there an existing catchment management group, but it's not doing its job? It might be better to find out what is holding that group back and then work to overcome that problem. In MCMC's case, before the Merri Creek Coordinating Committee there was no catchment group. The MCCC arranged for the setting up of MCMC.

Consider - are there many players and little coordination? ... some sort of new group might be appropriate to bring them together to develop shared objectives and a strategic program of work. If there are few players, but they don't have the resources to undertake the work (Funding, skilled workforce), a new group may still be appropriate to seek funding or employ a skilled workforce. In MCMC's case there were 8 Councils, a number of State Government authorities, and a number of community groups. Coordination was needed, but also a focus for obtaining funding, and a source of a skilled workforce.

Consider - could and should the job be done by volunteers? Is the energy available from volunteers sufficient for the task? Is the level of skill available suited to the task? Are the tasks too boring, dangerous or demanding to ask of volunteers? The organisation you create could employ staff to coordinate, and also to undertake significant portions of the work. In MCMC's case, the members of the community involved recognised that the task was too big for them to do entirely on their own and wanted staff to be employed to do the majority of the coordination and work on the ground. The valuable role for volunteers was recognised through the creation of the separate but closely linked group Friends of Merri Creek.

Develop for yourself an inspiring vision for your waterway and catchment, and for the role of the group. This vision will help to sway people to your cause, but you should also be prepared to amend the vision so that it becomes a shared vision.

Secondly, identify community and agency stakeholders:

• Conservation groups
• Landcare groups
• Residents associations
• Progress associations
• interested individuals
• key property owners abutting the waterway
• Councils whose municipalities form part of your catchment (and the officers and Councillors at Council who are most interested, or most relevant)
• Other government agency staff who might be involved (e.g. at Melbourne Water, Department of Sustainability and Environment)
• Key staff at businesses which are behaving responsibly in terms of their impact on the catchment

Familiarize yourself with the role of the various agencies responsible for management of your waterway and its catchment. In Melbourne, landowners are responsible for what goes into the drain or waterways from their property. Councils are responsible for the drainage systems with catchments smaller than 60ha. Within their defined area, Melbourne Water is responsible for the larger drains and waterways and have some responsiblity for the waterway banks to 30m either side of the waterway. Their responsibility overlaps with the responsibility of the owner of the waterway bank. The Environment Protection Authority is responsible for minimising pollution to the the environment, whilst Melbourne Water handle cleaning up spills. The land-owner is responsible for remnant native vegetation and native fauna on their properties, but the Deptartment of Sustainability and Environment and Councils are responsible for enforcing vegetation clearance controls and the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act. Recently the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority was set up.

Community group members, members of the public and individuals from each of these agencies might provide valuable advice on setting up a group, and support. On the other hand don't be surprised to encounter people who see the prospect of such a group as a threat or a potential nuisance or as just irrelevant. Individuals may oppose the setting up of your group either from self-interest or political reasons. Try to understand the basis of the opposition you will encounter.

MCMC's experience is that getting the Councils on-side has been crucial to our success. Other catchment groups, particularly in rural areas, have been rendered speechless at the reality of Councils working together and contributing resources to MCMC. Nonetheless, Councils have been MCMC's most stable members and funders.

Thirdly, build your network

Getting Councils on-side requires both supportive officers and supportive Councillors. Both are more sensitive to the views of people from within the municipality, so arrange to take with you perhaps 2 influential positive individuals who are residents of the municipality. If possible when visiting a Councillor, take at least one resident from their ward. Go armed with the Council's own published statements regarding water quality, waterways, remnant vegetation, etc, and demonstrate how the group could be an ally in achieving these aims or even the avenue through which they could be achieved. Councils are generally not very good at working with neighbouring Councils. The group could provide an opportunity to improve this liaison.

Visit each of the community groups and key individuals to listen to their ideas for the waterway and its catchment and promote your vision for the catchment and a catchment management group. Record their ideas for later collation into a list of possible objectives for the new group.

Collate these objectives and consider whether the group should be voluntary or professional. If it is to be professional, how could volunteers be involved? Consider what legal structure the group could adopt. Some possible structures include:

• Incorporated association (MCMC is one of these - more detail)
• Not for profit limited liability company
• Non-trading Cooperative

If the group is to employ staff, find an initial host for the organisation. In MCMC's case the City of Preston initially provided office space, payroll and accounting services, personnel management, a set of conditions of employment, limited supervision etc. The Darebin Creek Management Committee were initially hosted by the City of Heidelberg, and the Moonee Ponds Creek Coordinating Committee was initially hosted by the City of Hume. The advantages of this approach include easy adoption of an infrastructure of policies, practices and procedures. To get an idea of the range of issues that need to be dealt with, peruse the Victorian Government Business Channel website. There are also disadvantages to being hosted by an agency, including a potential loss of independence, and being distracted by wider organisational issues.

If you decide you want a host, see if you can get commitment from a suitable one before having a public meeting.

Fourthly arrange a public meeting

Invite all the interested people, community groups and authorities to a public meeting to identify shared objectives for the catchment and a way forward. Prepare for the meeting by:

• creating a list of the objectives raised by people you have spoken with, sorted so that those with the highest level of support are listed first
• creating a revised version of your vision for the waterway
• having a specific proposal for a structure for the group.
• see if you can have the meeting hosted by one of the potential member Councils.

Include the vision, the list of objectives with the invitation to the meeting.

When the meeting happens, make your proposal, and allow discussion. If you can reach agreement on a set of objectives, a vision and a structure. More likely there will be some remaining disagreement, in which case make sure there is an agreed process for taking the process further - a next meeting at least. Make sure you end up with a list of all the people attending and their contact details. Working through the issues raised in a meeting like this can be time-consuming and expensive if legal opinions are to be sought (as might be requested to clarify the best structure). See if you can share the burden of follow-ups with other (reliable) people or agency representatives at the meeting.

Resolve as much as is possible outstanding issues arising from the meeting before proceeding to setting up the new group. One of the things to do is to agree on the rules of the organisation. If it is to be an incorporated association, the model rules provided by the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Make sure your group's rules make clear how an agency can become a member without being constrained in its freedom to act, as statutory agencies cannot be bound to follow the rules of 'lesser' organisations. Set up your rules to provide groups' representation, and emphasise in the rules the gist of Justice Street's findings in relation to representation on committees (that a representative on a committee must base their participation on the best interests of the Committee rather than on the position of the organisation they represent). A process should be specifically included in the rules to provide for issues to be referred back to member organisations to get their official views, and to provide a process for dealing with those official views. This is one of the issues that MCMC is currently tackling as part of its review.

Consider including in your rules membership fees which from agency members would add up to enough to employ a coordinator (even if only part time). Volunteer groups should have a different fee structure, which could include a nominal sum of money and/or some number of hours contributed by volunteer members of the group.

Also in the rules, consider having a non-standard financial year. If a significant part of your group's income is likely to come from local or State Government sources, decisions may not be communicated to your group until August. If your financial year starts in October (as MCMC's does) that gives you plenty of time to frame a budget and plan works for that year. On the other hand it means that you miss the early opportunity to undertake spring planting.

Incorporate

When you are ready, and all the potential members are happy with your detailed proposal, another public meeting of the potential members will need to be held, to which invitees have been given 21 days notice. In this meeting a majority of votes cast by members, whether personally or by proxy (if proxies are allowed), must:

• authorise a particular person to incorporate the association. This person must be at least 18 years old and reside in the State of Victoria;
• approve a proposed statement of purposes;
• approve proposed rules that comply with the Act or approve the adoption of the model rules.

The authorised person must then lodge an application form as per the requirements of Consumer Affairs Victoria. The Association is incorporated from the date shown on the certificate of incorporation provided by CAV.

Suggestion for Year 2 Employing a coordinator, developing a strategy and a program.

Suggestions for Year 3 Commencing works.