Long awaited weather station to benefit local South Gippsland industries

A new automated weather station in Yanakie will provide reliable data and forecasts to help small rural South Gippsland communities make better business decisions.

Announcing the long-awaited weather station in early August, Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional and Rural Development Peter Ryan said it would have immediate benefit for important decisions about sowing, calving, lambing, herd management, spraying, controlled burns, planting of crops and vegetation, fishing, recreational boating, and tourism management.

The weather station is a major initiative of the Department of Planning and Community Development’s Lower Tarwin District Advancing Country Towns (ACT) project.

It will be funded by three Victorian Government grants:

• $156,000 from the Lower Tarwin District Advancing Country Towns project
• $30,000 from the Marine Safety Grants program
• $20,000 from the Recreational Fishing initiative.
  

The weather station has also gained other vital support, from:

• Local landowners Julie and Raoul Pridham, who provided the site
• South Gippsland Shire
• GippsDairy.
  

The project is expected to deliver impressive outcomes. For example, according to a recent DPI report, accurate weather forecasting will enable local dairy farmers to significantly reduce the impact of facial eczema in cattle, leading to savings of around $6.5 million across the district.

Another important Lower Tarwin District ACT initiative aims to create new pathways to nationally-accredited training and employment, to encourage young people to stay in or return to the district. Under this initiative, Foster Community House and Learning Centre will deliver a range of courses for local residents and those working in the farming sector in Venus Bay, Lower Tarwin, Dumbalk and Meeniyan.

The Lower Tarwin District is one of nine regional and rural communities, which are the focus of Victoria’s $9.4 million four-year Advancing Country Towns program. It has received $890,000, to create new opportunities and revitalise the small rural communities of Koonwarra, Buffalo, Dumbalk, Tarwin, Tarwin Lower, Stony Creek, Venus Bay, Fish Creek and Meeniyan in central South Gippsland.

The local community has identified the following local priorities for the Lower Tarwin District ACT project,

• education, skills and training
• economic development
• sustainable farming practices.
  

Read more information about Advancing Country Towns.