A 303 kilometre walk to raise awareness of damage being caused to the Murray River and its communities starts on Wednesday.
Barham newspaper editor Lloyd Polkinghorne is undertaking the walk out of frustration and a need to try and get action to stop our rivers and communities being ruined.
The Speak Up Campaign is supporting the walk and encourages its members and followers to get behind Lloyd’s Walk for Water by sharing the messages and if possible walking a few kilometres with him.
Lloyd aims to walk 20 kilometres a day starting at Barham on Wednesday November 11 and finishing at Hume Dam on Saturday November 28. He will stop at numerous communities along the way including Deniliquin, Blighty, Finley, Berrigan, Howlong and Albury.
Throughout the journey Lloyd will talk to people about the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and the adverse impacts it is having.
He said people need to know what’s happening in the Basin, and how a plan that is supposed to save the Basin is doing the opposite.
“One of the slogans that was being used was the Basin Plan would ‘Save the Murray’. I want to show what they are really doing. For example, erosion of river banks for hundreds of kilometres is destroying platypus habitats and RAMSAR listed forests. This is what happens when you try to shove so much water (down the system),” Lloyd said.
Speak Up chair Shelley Scoullar congratulated Lloyd on his efforts, and the great courage he is displaying to highlight the flawed Basin Plan.
“Lloyd has had more than his share of challenges, having suffered a broken back as a teenager and then shotgun injuries that changed his life. But he has always shown great determination, and now he is using it to raise awareness of a serious issue that our politicians don’t seem to have the courage to address. People like Lloyd who live on the Murray River can see the damage being caused by the Basin Plan and want it acknowledged and fixed.
“I would encourage everyone to give full support to his walk.”
You can keep updated on Lloyd’s progress through his Facebook page, Lloyd’s Walk for Water, or follow the links from the Speak Up website.
“This is a huge effort by Lloyd as he attempts to address the impacts of the Basin Plan on communities and the environmental damage it is causing to this fragile stretch of the Murray River.
“Please do whatever you can to support the walk, no matter how small,” Mrs Scoullar said.
“There is too much at stake to get this wrong,” Lloyd added.
