Nightmare on Western Port revisited
December 21, 2013 - With the Victorian premier espousing the “Shanghai of the South” for Western Port, Anne Paul revisited an academic study published 35 years ago.
December 21, 2013 - Gill Heal looks back at the first 18 months of the Bass Coast Post
and sees democracy at work, with its rights and obligations.
and sees democracy at work, with its rights and obligations.
Chance encounter
December 21, 2013 - A visit to Punchbowl had Bob Middleton thinking about beagles, foxes and too much hay.
December 21, 2013 - A visit to Punchbowl had Bob Middleton thinking about beagles, foxes and too much hay.
A mine of information
December 21, 2013 - Teaching a young man to read and providing a sympathetic ear were all part of the job for Wonthaggi’s first librarian, Georgie McRae. Carol Cox reports.
December 21, 2013 - Teaching a young man to read and providing a sympathetic ear were all part of the job for Wonthaggi’s first librarian, Georgie McRae. Carol Cox reports.
In their sights
December 13, 2013 - In the wake of a vitriolic debate about dogs on beaches, Catherine Watson asks at what point a community campaign becomes bullying.
December 13, 2013 - In the wake of a vitriolic debate about dogs on beaches, Catherine Watson asks at what point a community campaign becomes bullying.
December 13, 2013 - For 30 years, two old friends have
criss-crossed the back roads of Bass Coast, one step at a time.
Joan Woods reports.
Here we go again
December 6, 2013 - Phillip Islanders have defended “their bay” against a nuclear plant, an oil refinery, a canal development and a ferry terminal. The Port of Hastings development is the latest threat, writes Anne Davie.
December 6, 2013 - Phillip Islanders have defended “their bay” against a nuclear plant, an oil refinery, a canal development and a ferry terminal. The Port of Hastings development is the latest threat, writes Anne Davie.
The dog debates
December 7, 2013 - When Bass Coast councillors voted to trial a new time exclusion for dogs on Inverloch beaches this summer, the debate became red-hot. We hear from two of the many corners.
December 7, 2013 - When Bass Coast councillors voted to trial a new time exclusion for dogs on Inverloch beaches this summer, the debate became red-hot. We hear from two of the many corners.
A welcome racket
December 5, 2013 - Early each morning Linda Cuttriss is woken by raucous cackling and shrieking. It’s pandemonium, but a welcome one, because it means the shearwaters are back in the breeding business.
December 5, 2013 - Early each morning Linda Cuttriss is woken by raucous cackling and shrieking. It’s pandemonium, but a welcome one, because it means the shearwaters are back in the breeding business.
November 30, 2013 - Our lives are dominated by metaphorical straight lines: rigid timetables, appointments and deadlines. A meandering dirt road offers relief, writes Liz Low.
Beyond the three R's
November 30, 2013 - Concerns about rates, roads and rubbish will always dominate local debate, writes Anne Davie, but we also need to count the blessings of our beautiful surroundings and rich community life.
November 30, 2013 - Concerns about rates, roads and rubbish will always dominate local debate, writes Anne Davie, but we also need to count the blessings of our beautiful surroundings and rich community life.
In Darwin's footsteps
November 30, 2013 - Local snorkellers followed in the footsteps of Charles Darwin and Benjamin Franklin, citizen scientists of their time, when they went below the surface of Shack Bay.
November 30, 2013 - Local snorkellers followed in the footsteps of Charles Darwin and Benjamin Franklin, citizen scientists of their time, when they went below the surface of Shack Bay.
The end of a perfect night
November 21, 2013 - If you’ve ever been dubious about safety air bags, Carolyn Landon’s experience might change your mind. Without them, she doubts that she’d be alive to tell this tale, which she wrote to her family in the US after a high-speed crash.
November 21, 2013 - If you’ve ever been dubious about safety air bags, Carolyn Landon’s experience might change your mind. Without them, she doubts that she’d be alive to tell this tale, which she wrote to her family in the US after a high-speed crash.
The great defender
November 16, 2013 - From the personal to the political, Hazel Swift
walks a straight line. Gill Heal meets a woman known to many simply
as The Cat Lady.
November 16, 2013 - From the personal to the political, Hazel Swift
walks a straight line. Gill Heal meets a woman known to many simply
as The Cat Lady.
Cunning as a chicken killer
November 15, 2013 - Bob Middleton was always on the fox’s side, until the night he forgot to lock the chook shed.
November 15, 2013 - Bob Middleton was always on the fox’s side, until the night he forgot to lock the chook shed.
A small town with big ideas
With Wonthaggi marked as one of the state’s “growth centres”, Neil Rankine writes that we have a rare opportunity to ensure we attract the right sort of development and reinvigorate the town centre.
With Wonthaggi marked as one of the state’s “growth centres”, Neil Rankine writes that we have a rare opportunity to ensure we attract the right sort of development and reinvigorate the town centre.
Build it and they will come
November 2, 2013 - Part hipster, part hippie, Kongwak Market has defied the doubters. It turns 10 this weekend.
November 2, 2013 - Part hipster, part hippie, Kongwak Market has defied the doubters. It turns 10 this weekend.
Out of a planning nightmare, a new dream arises
November 2, 2013 - With views of Western Port and Churchill Island, Scenic Estate was a developer’s dream. Now a 50-year planning disaster is ending with plans for Phillip Island’s newest coastal reserve.
November 2, 2013 - With views of Western Port and Churchill Island, Scenic Estate was a developer’s dream. Now a 50-year planning disaster is ending with plans for Phillip Island’s newest coastal reserve.
Art of the possible
October 24, 2013 - The reality rarely matches the dream but Wonthaggi’s Artspace Gallery appears to be an exception.
October 24, 2013 - The reality rarely matches the dream but Wonthaggi’s Artspace Gallery appears to be an exception.
Percy's tale
October 24, 2013 - Born a dwarf and abandoned by his family, ‘Percy’ Drawbridge eventually made his home in Cowes. Anne Davie recalls a sweet-natured man who became a favourite with the local children, cats and dogs.
October 24, 2013 - Born a dwarf and abandoned by his family, ‘Percy’ Drawbridge eventually made his home in Cowes. Anne Davie recalls a sweet-natured man who became a favourite with the local children, cats and dogs.
The streets of my town
October 19, 2013 - Reports of Wonthaggi’s future role in accommodating Melbourne’s overflow made Linda Gordon uneasy about the sorts of new estate we can expect.
October 19, 2013 - Reports of Wonthaggi’s future role in accommodating Melbourne’s overflow made Linda Gordon uneasy about the sorts of new estate we can expect.
Not a blackboard in sight
October 18, 2013 - When students turn teachers, new worlds open for the teachers and the taught. Former teacher Gill Heal reports from Bass Valley Primary School.
October 18, 2013 - When students turn teachers, new worlds open for the teachers and the taught. Former teacher Gill Heal reports from Bass Valley Primary School.
October 19, 2013 - Bill Twite’s mother said he was an accident, but a good one. Joan Woods reports on the former policeman’s life of service to his family and his community.
October 19, 2013 - Under siege by a family obsessed with her bad habits, Lis Williams suddenly feels sympathy for her own mother.
October 19, 2013 - In Bird Week, Heather Murray Tobias argues that what we call weeds may also be home to many bird species.
The view from outside
October 5, 2013 - Twenty photographers, 20 perspectives shot over two weekends ... MAPping Wonthaggi takes a fresh look at our familiar world.
October 5, 2013 - Twenty photographers, 20 perspectives shot over two weekends ... MAPping Wonthaggi takes a fresh look at our familiar world.
A rupert of an election
October 5, 2013 - Handing out how-to-vote cards on election day provided plenty of opportunity for Frank Coldebella to contemplate voters, democracy, free speech and obesity.
October 5, 2013 - Handing out how-to-vote cards on election day provided plenty of opportunity for Frank Coldebella to contemplate voters, democracy, free speech and obesity.
September 28, 2013 - Joy Button delves into Coronet Bay’s history and discovers some wonderful characters, not least among a new garden group, the Horticultural Healers.
September 28, 2013 - As he carefully separates his bottles, newspapers and plastic from the rubbish, Bob Middleton has a sneaking suspicion he’s being conned.
September 21, 2013 - The films were always wonderful but what Keith Stevens loved most was the flickering beam that came from the projectionist’s room. He talks cinema with Gill Heal.
September 21, 2013 - The Coalition claimed its Direct Action plan would absorb 15 million tonnes of CO2 a year. Bernie McComb did the sums and found a $74.5 billion hole in the argument.
September 14, 2013 - Bob Middleton cheers himself up by imagining his political team of the century.
September 14, 2013 - A single bad decision in coastal planning can lead to others, argues Cr Phil Wright, citing the Smiths Beach ramp.
Planning blind in Cape
September 8, 2013 - Nicholas argues against allowing engineers to change Cape Paterson to their version of an urban paradise.
September 8, 2013 - Nicholas argues against allowing engineers to change Cape Paterson to their version of an urban paradise.
September 1, 2013: Sparks can fly – in the best sense – when people work together, says Jan Bourne. Gill Heal reports on the woman who has guided Wonthaggi's neighbourhood house for 11 years.
August 31, 2013 - On Saturday Julie Statkus attended a crash course in journalism. By Saturday night, she was putting it into practice with this report.
August 23, 2013 - Gippyrideshare co-ordinator Fred Boreham is a living advertisement for the car pooling scheme.
August 23, 2013 - Bob Middleton contemplates mortality and decides dying is best done while life is still good.
August 16, 2013 - Tired of travelling to the city to hear live music, Ian and Suzanne Henderson decided to bring the music to Gippsland. Bob Middleton pays tribute to the Lyrebird Arts Council.
August 16, 2013 - Four generations of Terri Allen’s family have lived in the house her grandfather built in Broome Crescent in 1915. The second part of her story about the family house is also a history of Australian domestic life in the 20th century.
August 10, 2013 - In the past 25 years Faye Hardie has rescued and rehoused hundreds of cats and dogs. And every one of them has a story. Catherine Watson reports.
August 2, 2013 - Two new initiatives on Phillip Island - Community Plus and Evenings at Harry's - are tapping into a hunger for serious discussion of ideas and strategies.
July 23, 2013 - An unnecessary blood test led to an unexpected bonding of cat and human. Catherine Watson reports.
July 14, 2013 - Terri Allen's memoir of her house, its surrounds, and the people who have lived there since 1915.
July 14, 2013 - Annoyed by clumsy locutions, peculiar pronunciations and asinine Americanisms, Pamela Jacka believes it’s time to stand up for the English language and the Australian idiom.
July 6, 2013 - At $2 a pop, thousands of used book sales add up to a touch of luxury for residents of Melaleuca Lodge. Bob Middleton visited Bill’s Book Shed for the inside story on an island institution.
July 6, 2013 - A lifetime of searching for ambergris, and in the end Catherine Watson found it by mistake.
June 30, 2013 - Meryl and Hartley Tobin’s passions are very different, but they both bring a meticulous approach to their subjects. Gill Heal reports.
June 22, 2013 - While others are dozing, Bob Middleton tackles some of the big issues.
June 15, 2013 - In the early 1990s, Nell Sleeman wrote down her memories of life in Wonthaggi in the 1920s and 1930s. Twenty years later, her words have the authentic flavour of another world.
June 9, 2013 - When the unthinkable happens, Loch’s rescue unit is quickly on the scene. Gill Heal spoke to one family who will never forget their kindness to a loved son and brother.
Rusting link to rich coal lore
June 9, 2013 - High tides recently exposed old tramway rails at the Cape Paterson beach. The 150-year-old rails are the last link to the earliest efforts to mine coal in our area, Mike McCarthy writes.
June 9, 2013 - High tides recently exposed old tramway rails at the Cape Paterson beach. The 150-year-old rails are the last link to the earliest efforts to mine coal in our area, Mike McCarthy writes.
June 2, 2013 - Banana bender, prodigious pumpkin grower, fowl fancier and ace apiarist, Colin Willmott is a man at the top of his game. Bob Middleton headed down the hill to meet the legend.
June 2, 2013 - Newly redundant and just past her prime, Catherine Watson sets out in search of a new calling.
May 26, 2015 - For neighbouring farmers, the periodic flooding of the Powlett estuary is a time of some anxiety. For water birds and freshwater fish, it's a time of full and plenty.
May 19, 2013 - Anna Kentwell’s seaweed dress encrusted with pearls nestled in flowers of coral was a labour of love and imagination.
Gill Heal reports.
Gill Heal reports.
May 19, 2013 - Beau Sleeman’s verse gives a fascinating insight into the Wonthaggi of the mid-1900s, a world of backyard chooks and the Friday night town parade of fighters and preachers. Carolyn Landon reports.
May 12, 2013 - Furniture-designer, soap-maker, house-builder, jeweller and wind surfer Brad Pickering is a man who’ll try anything once. Bob Middleton reports from Woodleigh.
May 5, 2013 - A new rural land strategy is a missed opportunity to integrate farming, conservation and tourism, Phil Wright argues, but it’s not too late to get it right.
April 26, 2013 - They left for Vietnam as boys and returned a year later as battle-scarred men. Gill Heal reports on one man’s experience of trying to settle back into a life of farming and footy.
April 25, 2013 - Time marches on and winter looms, but Bob Middleton finds comfort in the unchanging rhythm of the seasons.
April 20, 2013 - A few days before Anzac Day, Catherine Watson looks around her street and is reminded that war is a waste of time.
The co-op bakehouse
April 18, 2013 - Carolyn Landon’s essay reveals the significance of the Wonthaggi Co-operative Distribution Society Bakehouse.
April 18, 2013 - Carolyn Landon’s essay reveals the significance of the Wonthaggi Co-operative Distribution Society Bakehouse.
April 14, 2013 - When it comes to building sustainable houses,
we know what works; we just don’t do it. In fact we seem to
be going backwards, writes Terence Nott.
we know what works; we just don’t do it. In fact we seem to
be going backwards, writes Terence Nott.
April 14, 2013 - In 1937, the Wonthaggi mine whistle signalled the
town's worst-ever disaster. Or did it? Carolyn Landon sets out to solve the mystery.
town's worst-ever disaster. Or did it? Carolyn Landon sets out to solve the mystery.
April 6, 2013 - There is a tide in the affairs of man, Shakespeare reckoned, and you only get one chance to catch it. Liz Alger was determined not to miss her chance.
April 6, 2013 - “Two blokes, 10 days, one ocean – what could possibly go wrong?” So runs the tagline for Inverloch film-maker Mick Green’s documentary Paradise Blown.
March 30, 2013 - Going back to photograph Warley Hospital after it closed was a haunting experience for Cowes photographer Lisa Schonberg.
March 30, 2013 - The last thing we need in Cowes in summer is more cars, writes Phil Wright.
March 23, 2013 - At his first chook auction, Bob Middleton is outdrawn by some young turks
March 16, 2013 - Grantville residents and ratepayers are not as
well disposed to the proposed sand quarry as some suggest,
writes Janet Donaldson
well disposed to the proposed sand quarry as some suggest,
writes Janet Donaldson
March 16, 2013 - A mother, teacher, librarian, historian, author and activist, Lyn Chambers believed everything we do is ultimately a political decision. Carolyn Landon recalls a modest woman who made a big impact on Wonthaggi.
March 16, 2013 - When Catherine Watson read a newspaper report that Cape Woolamai traders were kicking up a stink about their new public toilets, she wondered if there might be another side to the story.
March 16, 2013 - It was fitting that last Sunday’s public tour of the Candowie reservoir was held on one of the hottest days this year, in the middle of a two-week heat wave in one of the driest summers on record.
March 10, 2013 - Information and compromise have helped to ease fears about the impact of a new sand quarry near Grantville. Gill Heal and Bob Middleton spoke to residents and the developer.
March 3, 2013 - When the Wonthaggi Bowling Club installs solar panels, you can guess solar power is no longer the province just of greenies and hippies. Catherine Watson crunches the numbers - financial and environmental - for those still weighing up the pros and cons.
February 23, 2013 - Just give Joe Foster a chainsaw and wave him off for the day. Bob Middleton reports on a neighbour with a reputation for pitching in when the going gets touch.
February 16, 2013 - The resignation of former state water minister Tim Holding prompted Mark Robertson to reflect on the ongoing costs – environmental and financial – of the desalination project and the job that lies ahead for local residents.
On February 5, the Sentinel-Times reported that a Newhaven man
was claiming compensation from the council after allegedly being
poisoned by an insecticide. Frank Coldebella and Catherine Watson
went in search of the story behind the headline.
was claiming compensation from the council after allegedly being
poisoned by an insecticide. Frank Coldebella and Catherine Watson
went in search of the story behind the headline.
February 16, 2013 - The Gilmour family connection with Cape
Paterson goes back more than a century, Carolyn Landon writes.
February 9, 2013 - In 2003, it took only a few angry voices to convince Bass Coast councillors and most of the community that wind farms were a blot on the landscape. Has the pendulum swung back?
February 10, 2013 - When word got around that Clive Dobson had done his knee, the shockwaves went from the outskirts of Wonthaggi all the way down to Cape and back again.
February 3, 2013 - Bass Coast’s volunteer firefighters are facing one of the most dangerous fire seasons in years. GILL HEAL asks what motivates them to put their lives on the line for strangers.
February 2, 2013 - For 99 years, Olive Justice was a familiar face on Phillip Island, and now her name has become synonymous with a bitter battle over a valuable site in Cowes. But what would Olive Justice want to happen to the place named after her?
February 2, 2013 - A tug of war and sack race vied with some hot moves on the new BMX ramps and some good old Aussie pub rock to make a sensational Australia Day celebration at Pioneer Bay. Zena Benbow reports.
February 2, 2013 - For Courtney Moir, a licence and car add up to freedom to live life the way she wants to. But she needed a little help to get there.
February 13, 2013 - If you won Tattslotto, you might just be able to afford Punchbowl’s pink palace but you’d probably need to win Tattslotto again to maintain it. Catherine Watson reports.
January 26, 2013 - In January 1958, Anna Coldebella spoke to the Express about becoming a naturalised Australian. Fifty-five years later, her son fills in the story of her early years in Wonthaggi.
January 20, 2013 - If there’s one thing "Wonthaggi" has plenty of it’s wind. Energy researcher Ben Courtice looks at whether it could prove to be one of the shire’s biggest assets.
Put out to pasture, but not forgotten
January 20, 2013 - Visit any agricultural show and it’s the
vintage tractors that draw the crowds. Bob Middleton asks
what is it about a humble old grey fergie that makes
some men grow misty-eyed.
vintage tractors that draw the crowds. Bob Middleton asks
what is it about a humble old grey fergie that makes
some men grow misty-eyed.
January 20, 2013 - It’s the joy of the dogs that’s so entrancing about flyball. From sleek border collies to little old terriers, all are focused on the game, and it’s the best game in the world. Catherine Watson reports.
January 13, 2013 - For almost a century, Harry Cleeland was a
part of Cape Woolamai. Gill Heal recalls a gentle, graceful man
much of whose life was governed by the sea but who
preferred to stick to shore.
part of Cape Woolamai. Gill Heal recalls a gentle, graceful man
much of whose life was governed by the sea but who
preferred to stick to shore.
January 12, 2013 - After watching a pair of Cape Paterson hooded plovers fail to raise a single chick from four clutches of eggs last summer, Graeme Henry was delighted when two chicks hatched out in early December. He continues the story.
January 12, 2013 - The second Saturday of the year is D-day for the region's best poultry breeders, craft-makers, bakers, gardeners and jam makers as they set their sights on the Bass Coast Agricultural Show. Catherine Watson spoke to some of the winners.