In October, Premier Jacinta Allan visited the Baw Baw Shire to announce Noojee’s participation in the Healthy Forest Plans Pilot project.
Following an end of native timber harvesting in Victoria, the state’s forests will be reimagined to meet community expectations. Support for regional economies, better forest management and community access to forests, are all a priority for the state government. The aim from the state government is to keep forests open, healthy and ready to explore.
Premier Allan said that “our forests remain open to every single Victorian and visitor alike – to enjoy hunting, fishing, camping, bushwalking and all the benefits of the bush.
“My focus is to bring more families to the bush and more jobs to the regions – and that’s exactly what our plan for Victoria’s great outdoors will do,” she said.
The $4 million investment into Noojee will also support the transition away from native timber harvesting, and also for the implementation of new strategies to support the area.
“By ending large-scale native timber harvesting, we’ve given our forests a future. Now we’re making sure every Victorian can share in it,” said Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos.
Ten other towns in Victoria are seeing similar investments. The funding boost for Noojee is part of the government’s plan for Victoria’s great outdoors and will see them invest $30 million to unlock 1.8 million hectares of state forests in Gippsland and North East Victoria, with better tracks and trails, and amenities to boost regional tourism.
The Great Outdoors Taskforce has been consulting with communities and determining the best future use of Victoria’s forests. From here, three local working groups will be established to inform the direction of Noojee: the Eco Tourism Working Group, the Specialised Agricultural Industry Development Working Group, and the Power and Connectivity Reliability Working Group.
Cr Danny Goss acknowledged that the future of Noojee’s forests has been discussed since 2022 and that during this time, the state government and council have “worked closely with the community to support local businesses to establish, expand and create local jobs.”
Member for Eastern Victoria Tom McIntosh encouraged locals to “appreciate our [state’s] brilliant bush [and] get out amongst it” and ensured that projects like this support that.
