Welcome:

A welcome was extended to John Adeney, CSIRO; Petrina Raitt and Kate Lovatt, WRC and Gregg Harwood, City of Albany.

Attendances:

Andrew Marshall, Deputy Chairperson; Paul Beattie, Torbay Coast Care; Andrew Brady, Peter Elmer, Ken Macfarlane, Melanie McQuillan, Mark Taylor, Clark McGarva, Graeme Heighton, John Blaney Murphy, Enid Meade, Terry Allen, Hugh Smith, David Elphick, Howard Shapland, Phillip Marshall, Maurice McCormick, James Pearse, Cr Diane Evers, Shayne Kuenen, John Kuenen, Sarah Barrett, CALM; Julie Pech, WRC.

Apologies:

Pat Walker, Secretary; Chris Gunby, WRC; Kym Witney Soanes, AGWEST; Melissa Vernon, Tony Erith, Yvette Worsfold, Jane Davies, City of Albany.

Minutes of meeting 14th June:

Confirmed as correct on the motion of M. McCormick and J Blaney Murphy.

Business arising out of minutes:

WATSONIA CONTROL ROADSIDE SIGN LAYOUT: Torbay Catchment Group logo with groups supporting the watsonia control listed underneath. Dimensions 1.0 m x 0.9 m. Members attending approved the layout of the sign.

Correspondence:

INWARDS

Matt Stephens, Chairperson, Albany Waterways Management Authority, has invited Torbay Sub-catchment group to become a member of AWMA. M. McCormick moved that we accept AWMA's invitation. Motion carried.

General business:

SOUTH COAST REGIONAL INITIATIVE PLANNING: Julie Pech gave a brief overview of the South Coast Regional Initiative Planning Team which works to attract additional natural resource management funds to the region. Julie led the discussion on what the group wants to achieve in the next five years in Torbay catchment. This information will be fed into the update of SCRIPT's Regional Strategy.

Guest speakers:

PAUL BEATTIE, TORBAY COAST CARE, talked about the role of Coast Care and the grant that has been obtained for coastal rehabilitation around the mouth of Torbay Inlet, including a description of works that the funds will be used for (see handout).

JOHN ADENEY, CSIRO talked about the monitoring of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Lake Powell and Marbellup Brook during the last 10 months. John outlined how the climatic conditions influenced the growth of algae blooms.

PETRINA RAITT, WRC explained how PhosLock works in locking up phosphorus in the sediments of Marbellup Brook. Petrina said that scientist involved in the trial were pleased with the results that were achieved with the PhosLock.

Other business:

Andrew Marshall explained that the City of Albany was supplying chemical for the control of Watsonia, and a sub-committee of the catchment group had started planning for a spraying operation in the period from the middle of September to the middle of October when the watsonia is flowering. All help would be most welcome. Please contact Andrew on 9845 1081 if available.

As John Blaney-Murphy is going away for a year, Julie Pech thanked John for all his help and motivation with the PhosLock trial and the algae bloom problems in Marbellup Brook. This was endorsed by the group.

Next meeting to be held on Wednesday 20th September 2000.