THE arduous journey for champions of Western Port started in 1971 when the Save Western Port Coalition, representing 16 environmental groups, published The Shame of Western Port – Speculator’s Dream … Environmental Nightmare.
The report was in response to confidential plans by the Westernport Regional Planning Authority to fill in large areas of the bay, build wharves and shipping berths on French Island, and construct two causeways and a tunnel to the mainland.