They have identified a problem with the City of Ballarat no longer employing a dedicated environment officer working in matters of biodiversity. 

Environmental consultant and Landcare worker Jennifer Johnson said the City of Ballarat was one of the few regional and peri-urban councils in the region without the role, unlike Golden Plains, Moorabool, Yarra Ranges and Nillumbik councils.

A council spokesperson said City of Ballarat had an entire infrastructure and environment department with a number of environmental health officers.

However, Ms Johnson said that was “a totally different thing” and that the council needed a specific officer versed in biodiversity strategies and community education.

“I actually feel in Ballarat, the awareness of the environment has dropped in the last few years, with no environmental officer,” Ms Johnson said.

“Councils outside Melbourne like Yarra Ranges and Nillumbik, peri-urban councils, they have environmental staff and they educate people about what they can put back in their gardens.

“Ballarat has lost that element – it used to be there years ago but once the environment team was gone, I don’t know if Ballarat city will ever get an environmental officer again.”

She said consultants like herself were tasked with educating people about creating a fire-safe area around their home, in-line with CFA requirements, while also meeting environmental requirements.

However, she said without staff on council, there was a lot of confusion about what those requirements meant in real terms.

She said many people equated “green space” with “biodiversity”, meaning provisions for the environment during housing developments were not being made.

“With all this development work going on – and Ballarat is booming – there’s no-one in there.”

Fellow consultant Ray Draper said Ballarat was experiencing a net loss of trees during housing development, particularly in areas like Lucas, where he said developers weren’t meeting offset requirements.

“They have to keep 10 per cent green space. That’s great, but they can put in agapanthus. They don’t have to put in native vegetation.”