He’s been involved in resource management for four years and is especially passionate about protecting the quality of the natural waterways in the South West.

Along with his associates at GeoCatch and the Department of Water, James has had a hand in the introduction of a number of water-wise initiatives in the Busselton shire.

The most recent is the Queen Street roundabout currently under construction.

Few would deny that the Queen Street road works continue to be a major disruption.

But for James and the cross-agency team involved in the project, watching the construction unfold is very satisfying.

The beginnings of a very clever project that will do so much more than just improve the flow of traffic through our town centre, is rapidly emerging through the construction chaos.

The new Queen Street roundabout will be no ordinary roundabout – it’s a specially designed ‘retrofit’ roundabout with an inbuilt bio-filtration system or ‘rain garden’ which will be home to a variety of low-lying Australian shrubs.

The roundabout will help to beautify Queen Street, and conserve water.

It will also have a positive impact on the quality of the Lower Vasse River and help put Busselton on the map in terms of best practice ‘green’ urban planning. Busselton’s retrofit roundabout may well be the first of its kind in the State.

“I’m unaware of any other retrofit roundabouts that have bio-filtration systems installed in this manner in the State,” James said.

“This project is considered best practice and it’s likely to attract considerable interest from other shires.”

The design is simple but effective.

“The four gardens (that surround the roundabout) will capture storm water runoff from the road surface,” explained James.

“The water will then be filtered through sandy loam soil and the root zone of native sedges which will remove a quantity of contaminates like sediments, metals and nutrients from the water before it enters the Lower Vasse River and Geographe Bay.”