The forum covered topics and issues such as new general environmental duty, EPA, urban waterway law reform, water trading, water and catchment legislation reform. Attendees learnt about recent legislative developments, and went away with a greater understanding of risks, liabilities and opportunities that come from water regulation legislation in the state of Victoria.
You can read the paper here.
“For the long-term benefit and well-being of those of us who live in cities, as well as for nature itself, my view is that it is desirable to re-frame how we live with urban waterways – indeed, we seem to be progressing tentatively down that path. It is also feasible and desirable to tackle more honestly and effective the everyday machinery of law, policy, regulation and decision-making that is needed to make this change. If so we may able to implement progressively a situation in which the city and nature are not viewed as separate and dichotomous. We may even begin to move toward cities that are a new type of natural space.” – Bruce Lindsay, Lawyer, EJA