Planning helps you reduce risks and can save you time and money

Weed and pest management generally requires a considerable investment over time. Getting the most out of your time and money requires good planning.

A good plan can help you to assess your risks and determine the most appropriate management actions. It will also help you to comply with legislative requirements, coordinate control activities with other property activities and your neighbours and also improve your efficiency by ensuring that control activities are prioritised and appropriately timed.

Planning should take into account local risks and requirements as well as your specific property requirements

To start with, site mapping and information from your regular pest detection activities including surveys, inspections and opportunistic sightings should be reviewed. Planning should consider information on local requirements and biosecurity risks from your relevant council Pest Management Plan, along with Commonwealth, state, regional requirements and any specific compliance and approval conditions for your site.

Effective plans should provide:

•  information on the overall management approach (with reference to any specific prevention, detection, planning, control, monitoring and review requirements)

• site data, mapping and records to support property planning and management efforts

• clear guidance on property-specific prevention requirements (such as the actions to be taken to clean and inspection vehicles and equipment, contain known biosecurity issues, maintain fencing, establish movement corridors and implement quarantine measures for livestock)

• clear timelines and requirements for biosecurity detection activities (including scheduled surveys, reactive inspections and the reporting and investigation of opportunistic sightings)

• detailed responsibilities, actions, resources and timeframes for property-specific control, follow-up and monitoring requirements (along with specific methods and disposal requirements and any required competencies, permits, licences and approvals)

• clear communication and notification to all stakeholders associated with the property.

To ensure you get the most out of your property management plans, ensure your plans are responsive to the identification of new priority biosecurity issues. They should also be maintained, regularly reviewed and updated.

Is your property plan up-to-date?