Willunga Environment Centre Inc.

About Us

The Willunga Environment Centre (WEC) has been operating in its current location since October 2005. The Centre is a non-profit organisation that aims to inform, educate and assist the local community in all matters regarding the environment by effectively facilitating access to official information, printed matter, training and contact details for relevant organisations. It is a centre in which the local community regularly seek information from; and is frequently utilised by community and industry alike to hold meetings, conferences and events on all things environmental.

In 2008 we held 18 events with over 650 people attending. We would like to thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you again at one or more of our very many varied events we have planned for 2009.

Some of the topics covered in 2008 included:

Marine Parks
Snakes
Birdscaping the Environment
Climate Change
Organic Gardening
Grants Awareness Workshop

Just to name a few!

NEW!

The Centre has undergone some changes recently. We have painted the floors and brought down some partitions in an effort to make the centre look more appealing and the staff more approachable. This is just the start of making our Centre one that we are proud of and that is alluring to the community. Our aim is to be as accessable and informative to the community as possible. We want people to really enjoy their experience when visiting our centre and feel they can utilise our resources frequently.

The main change recently has been the appointment of Dr Ashley Pitman as Centre Manager. Ashley has taken over from Shirley Worsfold, who has gone on to retire after four years with the Centre. Ashley brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience from within the Environmental sector which will be well utilised at the Centre. Please feel free to come and chat with Ashley about any issues or queries you may have.

Centre’s Objectives

The WEC's main objective is to encourage and support the community to achieve environmental, social and economic sustainability in the Willunga Basin and surrounding areas.

To achieve this objective the WEC provides community groups and individual community members with research information, knowledge by way of articles, printed matter and general information. The Centre also facilitates access to training, contact names and organisations that can give advice and supply detailed information

The Centre also aims to educate the local community with regular guest speaker evenings and workshops. These events cover a diverse range of topics eg. Climate Change, Bushfire Ready, Native Animals and Land Management Practices.

The Centre has a wide range of resources available to all community members including:

CFS Maps
DVD and book library
Home Energy Audit Kit
Tool hire for seed and tree planting eg. Hamilton planters etc.

These can be accessed through our borrowing system.

The WEC can also be booked for group meetings and/or presentations and talks, accomodating up to 30 people. If required, a data projector and screen are available to use in presentations. These facilities are all provided free of charge.

Project Officers

We now have two project officers working from the Centre, Wayne Lawrence and Simon Beed.

Wayne Lawrence
	Wayne Lawrence operates an environmental consultancy business from the Willunga Environment Centre that specializes in environmental restoration, water-course rehabilitation and project management. Wayne is currently managing numerous properties ranging in size from 5ha to 100’s of ha. on the Willunga-Sellicks escarpment, as well as helping to secure funding to rehabilitate the numerous water-courses that flow from the escarpment.
Wayne secures the funding that is required to assist landholders in repairing some of the damage that has been caused to a number of properties in the area. This may be fencing off water-courses so that stock do not have unlimited access to the creek-lines, it maybe revegetating sections of properties to arrest erosion issues or extend remnant vegetation or it maybe the removal of woody weeds. Wayne brings extensive technical and local knowledge to the area having a degree in ecology gained from Flinders University and with his family living in the local area for a number of generations. Wayne is currently working with the Willunga Hillsface Landcare Group to provide project management for the Regreen the Range project.

Simon Beed
	Simon worked as a volunteer at the Willunga Community Landcare Centre from 1999 – 2000, he has now returned to the Willunga Environmental Centre following completion of Flinders University studies in Environmental Management and various industry appointments. He brings to the Willunga Basin an extensive environmental network, and currently practices out of the Centre. He retains a strong connection with colleagues from previous appointments.
Simon brings these skills to assist in the sustainable environmental management of the regions environmental assets, through both his consulting, and in developing new environmental initiatives for the region in line with the regional environmental management priorities. Planning Applications, Environmental Impact Assessment study and reporting. Major project (environmental portfolio) management, government policy framework development, legislative referrals processes (eg EPBC Act 1999), community consultation, environmental management systems, and terrestrial environments on-ground rehabilitation works exemplify some of Simons key roles. Simon can be contacted at planrightenvironmental@bigpond.com or at the Centre.

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