Alexandrina Council Roadside Vegetation Management Plan

The purpose of this RVMP is to provide Alexandrina Council with a consistent and integrated approach to managing roadside vegetation. It fulfils a legal requirement under the Native Vegetation Act 1991, which allows for clearance of native vegetation by Alexandrina Council, or someone acting on behalf of Council, where the clearance complies with a roadside management plan that has been approved by the Native Vegetation Council. This RVMP: o identifies areas of high conservation value vegetation on our roadsides o provides guidelines for undertaking potentially damaging activities on our roadsides so as to minimise impacts on native vegetation o details the consultation and approval processes that must be followed for roadside activities involving the clearance of native vegetation, and o identifies and prioritises actions to improve our management of roadside vegetation. The primary objective of this RVMP is to assist Alexandrina Council meet legal requirements for the provision and maintenance of a safe road network and for the protection of native roadside vegetation. Other objectives of this RVMP are: o to avoid or minimise the loss of native vegetation on roadsides and to encourage an approach of “no net loss” associated with Council activities o maintain and enhance the species diversity, genetic diversity, vegetation associations, habitat types and corridor value of existing roadside vegetation o improve awareness of roadside vegetation management issues for Council’s Elected Members, management, staff and contractors, the community and other relevant stakeholders and authorities, and o entrench good roadside management practices in order to generate long-term savings and efficiencies in Council’s road maintenance budgets. In pursuit of these objectives, Council will have regard to the NAMO Principles when planning activities which might involve the clearance of native vegetation on roadsides, see Appendix 6. Council’s Environmental Strategy Officer will have primary responsibility for administering implementation of the RVMP, ensuring the RVMP is kept current and promoting its contents to council staff and the community. All relevant Council managers, staff and contractors will be trained to ensure they can appropriately interpret the RVMP and therefore implement the roadwork practices required to minimise damaging impacts to roadside vegetation.