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By Rhonda Sutton
IN 1979 the Inverloch Sewerage Authority applied for a licence to discharge virtually raw sewage into the ocean in the vicinity of Eagles Nest. South Gippsland Conservation Society (SGCS) objected on the grounds that nutrient-rich effluent would travel through a substantial part of the Bunurong cliff reserve. It would then flow across a beach which is one of the most significant in the area and to rock platforms rich with marine life.
In 1981 a public meeting of over 100 people was held in Inverloch and a motion carried which opposed the discharge of effluent by the outfall into Bass Strait and called for a completely land-based sewerage treatment system. Almost 1200 people around Inverloch signed a petition expressing opposition to the sewerage outfall which was then tabled in state parliament.
IN 1979 the Inverloch Sewerage Authority applied for a licence to discharge virtually raw sewage into the ocean in the vicinity of Eagles Nest. South Gippsland Conservation Society (SGCS) objected on the grounds that nutrient-rich effluent would travel through a substantial part of the Bunurong cliff reserve. It would then flow across a beach which is one of the most significant in the area and to rock platforms rich with marine life.
In 1981 a public meeting of over 100 people was held in Inverloch and a motion carried which opposed the discharge of effluent by the outfall into Bass Strait and called for a completely land-based sewerage treatment system. Almost 1200 people around Inverloch signed a petition expressing opposition to the sewerage outfall which was then tabled in state parliament.
Just five years after its formation, the South Gippsland Conservation Society was midway through a battle royal that is still vividly recalled by many to this day.
SGCS member Frank Coldebella recalls a community far more divided than it is today in attitudes to conservation.
SGCS member Frank Coldebella recalls a community far more divided than it is today in attitudes to conservation.
This is the first in a series of stories to mark the first 50 years of the South Gippsland Conservation Society.
There was great suspicion and antipathy towards ‘greenies’. People thought greenies were a threat to their prosperity.”
On a cliff top near Eagle’s Nest at the proposed outfall point for treated effluent from Inverloch’s sewerage works, the Minister of Water Supply, Mr Jenkins, lambasted “grossly unreasonable greenies”.
“I find it incredible that you object to this scheme,” he told three members of the South Gippsland Conservation Society.
“I find it incredible that you object to this scheme,” he told three members of the South Gippsland Conservation Society.
South Gippsland Sentinel-Times, November 17 1981
In the same year the Conservation Society took occupancy of Banks old butchery in A’Beckett Street Inverloch. The building hadn’t been used for some time so working bees were held every Saturday morning to clean, paint and transform the building into a meeting space and base for educational activities as well as a shop stocked with natural history and field books on local wildlife.
The first Environment Centre. Cartoon: Colin Suggett
The Environment centre became a hive of activity as posters of a toilet on top of the Bunurong cliffs were collected and distributed around the area.
It also became a target for those who were determined to get their sewage outfall at Eagles Nest.
It also became a target for those who were determined to get their sewage outfall at Eagles Nest.
Sentinel Times, January 1984
Inverloch residents Tony Watkins and Jayne Lawson camped at Eagles Nest in protest at the proposed sewage outfall.
“I remember one hot day when people were on the beach and had left their windows open. We popped posters inside all the cars.” recalls Tony.
Over the same period the Society had been engaged in a campaign to gain stronger protection for the entire Bunurong coastline. Eulalie and Os Brewster and others gathered supporting evidence from various surveys of marine habitats and comments from people visiting the area. This formed the basis of a submission to the Land Conservation Council advocating a Marine Park along the Bunurong cliffs.
It was not universally welcomed by locals. In November 1987 a meeting of 350-400 people in Inverloch passed a motion to “inform the Minister for Conservation, Forests and Lands, Joan Kirner, that they were totally opposed to the formation of a marine reserve”.
Almost a decade of letter writing and campaigning finally succeeded in stopping the outfall at Eagles Nest. The Bunurong Marine Park was established in 2002.
In 1983 SGCS was awarded the Victorian Conservation prize for its efforts in opposing the ocean outfall, for its lobbying for marine parks and for educating people about and caring for the environment. The prize was a painting by famous artist Neil Douglas. In 1986 the painting was relocated to the newly named Bunurong Environment Centre and Shop opposite the Esplanade Hotel.
The shop still houses this painting as well as the famous shell collection and features an excellent range of educational and fun games and toys with an environmental focus. It is a popular place for families to spend time learning about dinosaurs and the local environment from the displays and audio-visual presentations. It is also a base for the very popular school holiday programs.
“I remember one hot day when people were on the beach and had left their windows open. We popped posters inside all the cars.” recalls Tony.
Over the same period the Society had been engaged in a campaign to gain stronger protection for the entire Bunurong coastline. Eulalie and Os Brewster and others gathered supporting evidence from various surveys of marine habitats and comments from people visiting the area. This formed the basis of a submission to the Land Conservation Council advocating a Marine Park along the Bunurong cliffs.
It was not universally welcomed by locals. In November 1987 a meeting of 350-400 people in Inverloch passed a motion to “inform the Minister for Conservation, Forests and Lands, Joan Kirner, that they were totally opposed to the formation of a marine reserve”.
Almost a decade of letter writing and campaigning finally succeeded in stopping the outfall at Eagles Nest. The Bunurong Marine Park was established in 2002.
In 1983 SGCS was awarded the Victorian Conservation prize for its efforts in opposing the ocean outfall, for its lobbying for marine parks and for educating people about and caring for the environment. The prize was a painting by famous artist Neil Douglas. In 1986 the painting was relocated to the newly named Bunurong Environment Centre and Shop opposite the Esplanade Hotel.
The shop still houses this painting as well as the famous shell collection and features an excellent range of educational and fun games and toys with an environmental focus. It is a popular place for families to spend time learning about dinosaurs and the local environment from the displays and audio-visual presentations. It is also a base for the very popular school holiday programs.
Fantastic piece of contemporary local history. I have been shown the jack hammered trench across the rock platform that was made to take the outfall pipe. We snorkel regularly in the Marine National Park that would have received the nutrient rich outfall. Here the fish are bigger, more numerous, more diverse and I like to think less afraid compared to those found in the adjoining waters where spear fishing is common. The rock platform of the Bunurrong Coast is the epicenter of local biodiversity particularly compared to the heavily cleared terrestrial landscape. Stopping the outfall and the subsequent Marine National Park declaration has created a local biodiverse hotspot on Inverloch's doorstep. As is so often the case we who snorkel, surf and sightsee at Eagles Nest can thank a relative few who saw beyond and stood against the convenience of running sewerage effluent out there. In the 50 years of the South Gippsland Conservation Society is one of many such campaigns. This success gives power to all those today who continue to organize and resist to subvert the dominant paradigm!