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Community asset under threat

Woodanilling farmer John Pickford with dog Sue at a site where Wagin-Woodanilling Landcare assisted in planting Salt Bushes to address salinity on his property.

Wagin-Woodnalling Landcare is calling for community support to keep its doors open, with a cloud hanging over its future while a review of the service is done.

The organisation, funded by the shires of Wagin and Woodanilling, is under review to determine whether it is still required by the local community.

Wagin-Woodanilling Landcare zone manager Veronika Crouch said if the community did not show its support, it would lose an asset.

“They lose valuable information sources and those connections to people who actually have expertise in certain areas,” she said.

“It’s worth having in your own town. It’s beneficial that you can just go down the road and find out this information rather than having to go to other towns or go to Perth and not have that personal connection and have someone who knows the area.”

Without the group in Wagin, the closest Landcare office is in Katanning; however, Ms Crouch said each office tailored projects specifically for their region.

“It’s good to have a network where there isn’t just one group but all groups work together,” she said.

Shire of Wagin chief executive Peter Webster said the shires were simply reviewing the need for the organisation.

“We are doing a review of the current arrangement … whether the current direction of the Landcare group is what the farmers want it to be or whether it needs to change direction,” he said. “We don’t want to close it down but it has to have a purpose.”

Woodanilling farmers John and Diana Pickford have liaised with Wagin Woodanilling Landcare for 25 years.

They have seen the organisation shrink due to cost-cutting over the years.

The Pickfords changed their property from bushland to a largely cleared dry land farming system and had salinity issues.

Landcare helped plant salt bushes on their property to counter salinity and provide pasture for their sheep.

“Landcare is a means of getting dollars on the ground to work on land degradation,” Mr Pickford said. “They bring fresh ideas to landholders as well as sharing ideas.”

Graydyn Wilcox of Woodanilling attended Landcare bridal creeper control workshops and received Linking the Lake funding to fence around lakes and creeks.

“It takes the pressure off local agriculture departments … if people thought about it, there is a lot of value in there (in Landcare),” he said.