Now he wants greater recreational use of local waterways, particularly the Wollondilly River stretch from Marsden Weir up to the rear of the PCYC and slightly beyond.

He successfully pushed the case at a meeting last Tuesday. A working party will be formed to further develop the idea.

“In recent times we’ve come to appreciate more the water we have and to look for more opportunities to manage it better and make more use of it,” Cr Banfield said.

“More recreational use of our waterways is the most obvious opportunity we have yet to fully realise.”

He argued with grants officers now on board, this could involve cleaning up and maintaining the rivers, particularly around Gibson St, and maintaining walking trails to and around Sooley Dam.

“Other towns have put effort into this sort of thing and they’re a thousand times better,” Cr Banfield told the meeting.

He told the Post that Tumut, Albury, Wagga Wagga and Nowra had greatly enhanced their waterways with recreational activities.

Cr Banfield said more walking trails and fishing along the river would also encourage its clean-up. The section around Gibson St was still a “mess” following last year’s floods, he said. A report about the working party and its charter will be brought back to Council.

But Cr Banfield said it would be a stand-alone committee, comprising community members enlisted through an expression of interest process.

“The idea is to get people to strategise, come up with a section of river that needs to be done first, get some costings and then go to the grants officers,” he said.

The initiative would also tie in with the Goulburn Wetlands project on the Mulwaree Ponds.