Bass Coast Post - News of Bass Coast

Relief for Silverleaves residents

20/3/2025

By Catherine Watson

LIKE many Silverleaves residents and holiday home owners, Louise Hill has had some sleepless nights over the past few years as the Silverleaves foreshore has receded at an ever increasing rate.

Now high anxiety has turned to cautious optimism for the president of the Silverleaves Conservation Association with works projected to start at Silverleaves early next month to prepare for Easter high tides.

Tigers make a splash

27/2/2025

A RICHMOND Football Club subsidiary will replace the YMCA as manager of Bass Coast’s leisure centres from July 1.

Aligned Leisure will manage the Bass Coast Aquatic & Leisure Centre in Wonthaggi, the Phillip Island Leisure Centre and the seasonal Cowes Outdoor Pool. The company is also expected to delivery programs in the community.

Bass Coast Shire Council appointed the company following a competitive tender process.

Council CEO Greg Box said Aligned Leisure was a highly capable, community-focused organisation with a strong track record in facility management and working in community.

Let the bidding begin

27/2/2025

Seven candidates have put their hands up to contest Monash in the federal election.

By Catherine Watson

AFTER years of being ignored by both major parties, Monash voters can at last expect to see some election promises coming our way. The seat has been a Liberal Party stronghold since 2004 but the ALP came within 2.6% of securing it in 2022.

Fortunately the federal Government isn't as broke as the state one, so there is money in the war chest for some serious commitments.

The seat is anyone’s this time with the conservative vote to be split amongst the Liberal and National parties and two high-profile independent candidates, including current MP Russell Broadbent.

The ALP, Greens, Family First and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation parties have all announced their candidates in the past 10 days. Now all we need is the Prime Minister to fire the starting gun.

‘Bigger is better’ for new health service

26/2/2025

Hospitals and health sites, including Wonthaggi, will retain their local names in the new Bayside Health service.

BASS Coast Health (BCH) will merge with four other health services on January 1 2026 to form a new entity known as Bayside Health.

The boards of the five health services - including Alfred Health, Kooweerup Regional Health Service, Peninsula Health and Gippsland Southern Health Service -confirmed the merger this week.

Interim BCH CEO Professor Simone Alexander said the new health service would improve healthcare access across south-east metropolitan Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula, South Gippsland and the Bass Coast.

ALP announces candidate

20/2/2025

ALP candidate Tully Fletcher

By Catherine Watson

THE Australian Labor Party has selected Kilcunda resident Tully Fletcher, a director at Deloitte Australia, as the federal Labor candidate for Monash.

A third generation Gippslander, Mr Fletcher grew up in Wonthaggi and stood as the Greens candidate for Bass in the 2006 Victorian election.

He was senior adviser to the Victorian Attorney-General from 2014-2019 and earlier worked as executive officer to the Chancellor of the Australian National University, former federal minister Gareth Evans.

The selection adds to an intriguing contest for Monash, with two high-profile independent candidates, including current MP Russell Broadbent.

Help us on housing: council plea

20/2/2025

PUCV Deputy Chair Brett Tessari, Minister for Housing and Homelessness
Clare O’Neil, and Member for Corangamite Libby Coker.

PERI Urban Councils Victoria has taken to Canberra its push to secure government funding to open up land for housing developments and provide community infrastructure in Victoria’s high-growth zones.

Led by new Deputy Chair Cr Brett Tessari from Bass Coast Shire Council, the delegation met with federal ministers and shadow ministers responsible for regional development, local government, infrastructure and housing.

Cr Tessari said the delegation welcomed the opportunity to discuss its policy proposal in person with decision makers last week.

“Our municipalities are the gateway to regional Victoria and we are on the frontline of rapid population growth, but our low rate base limits our ability to fund the critical infrastructure we need,” Cr Tessari said.

No go for sand company

20/2/2025

Residents of Adams Estate, from left, Jan Grimes, Tony Davidson and
Lea Trowbridge celebrate after council vote to reject plans to widening
of Stanley Road for sand trucks.

By Catherine Watson

BASS Coast councillors have rejected plans to widen and seal Stanley Road in Grantville for sand trucks to service a new quarry at the end of the road.

At Wednesday’s council meeting councillors voted eight to one against an application by Hanson Construction Materials, part of the giant multinational Heidelberg Materials, to remove 1.7 hectares of significant vegetation from Stanley Road.

The original permit for the quarry, granted by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in 1996, required the company to use Stanley Road for its sand trucks and to widen and seal the road to the council’s satisfaction.

Count me in, says Broadbent

3/2/2025

Russell Broadbent is standing against the party he represented for 33 years.

By Catherine Watson

INDEPENDENT Monash MP Russell Broadbent’s announcement that he will seek re-election at the age of 74 has thrown the contest for the seat of Monash wide open.

The election now features a blueblood Liberal candidate, two high-profile independents and a rare National Party candidate.

Unlike many of his colleagues, the long-time Liberal MP for Monash survived the backlash against the unpopular Morrison government at the 2022 election.

But in November 2023, at an early Liberal pre-selection vote, he polled just 16 votes to Mary Aldred's 160.

Mr Broadbent quit the party he had belonged to for almost half a century and moved to the crossbench, stating “This was a clear signal from members and one which I believe revokes my licence to represent the Liberal Party in the electorate of Monash."

Local boost for cancer patients

31/1/2025

Cheryl Lindsay, pictured with medical oncologist Professor Mark Shackleton and Registered Nurse Linda Tack in the
L R Rigby Cancer Centre at Wonthaggi hospital.

By Brad Lester

WHEN Cheryl Lindsay learned that she had lung cancer, she felt as though her world was falling apart.

“But then with all the scans and treatment, you don’t get time to think about what’s going on, just the results of the tests and the treatment, and your family,” Cheryl says.

A year after starting treament she is in remission and incredibly grateful to her cancer team at Wonthaggi Hospital’s L R Rigby Cancer Centre, where she has been treated every three weeks for the past 12 months.

Fire and rain

9/1/2025

The northern section of the Gurdies was burnt but firefighters managed
to stop the fire from crossing the creek.

BY Catherine Watson

MANY of us have mourned since fire swept through the Gurdies Nature Conservation Reserve on December 19-20, threatening properties in the Gurdies and further afield.

Around 192 hectares was burnt in total, including around 125ha in the northern section of the Gurdies reserve and a small area of the nearby Hurdy Gurdy Nature Conservation Reserve.

Save Western Port Woodlands invites the community to come together at the Dunbabbin Road Picnic Area in the Gurdies Nature Conservation Reserve at 10am on Saturday 11th January for Fire & Rain, a ritual of loss and renewal.

Cape boundary capped

17/12/2024

By Catherine Watson

THE Cape Paterson community is celebrating tonight after winning a decade-long battle against a massive expansion of their coastal village.

While the I’s are still to be dotted and the T’s crossed, Bass MP Jordan Crugnale announced today that the town boundary will be returned to Seaward Drive.

She said a new draft map would open for consultation on the Engage Victoria website tomorrow to enable the community to affirm their wishes on the Cape boundary.

There is little doubt about those wishes since hundreds of residents have campaigned for years for exactly that result.

‘This is an emergency’

13/12/2024

The council has spent $223,000 on emergency works at Inverloch beach in the past four months.

By Catherine Watson

“LIKE the residents in a valley watching a bushfire approaching …” That was how Cr Tim O’Brien’s described coastal residents as he pressed for stronger action on beach erosion at Inverloch and Silverleaves.

At Wednesday’s council meeting – the first full meeting by the new council – councillors voted for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor to seek an urgent meeting with Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos.

They will request the commencement as soon as practicable of large-scale dune restoration at Inverloch and funding for Geotech sandbagging for the Silverleaves foreshore.

Parking not required

12/12/2024

There's plenty of on-street parking in San Remo, according to the developers and planning report.

By Catherine Watson

A San Remo commercial development has been granted a complete parking waiver despite 20 objections and councillor frustrations over other recent parking waivers.

The block at 151 Marine Parade is just 163 square metres and formerly housed Jim's Bait & Tackle.

The developers have squeezed every last inch of value out of the site with a four-storey complex incorporating 11 small offices on the upper three levels and a shop at ground level.

Meet Bass Coast's new mayor

20/11/2024

New Bass Coast Mayor Rochelle Halstead and Deputy Mayor Brett Tessari, seated. Back, from left,
Crs Meg Edwards, Jan Thompson, Mat Morgan, Ron Bauer, Tracey Bell, Jon Temby and Tim O’Brien.

By Catherine Watson

AFTER two terms as Deputy Mayor of Bass Coast, Cr Rochelle Halstead has been elected as Bass Coast Mayor today at the first public meeting of the new council.

After a week of wheeling and dealing, the mayoralty appeared headed for a showdown with three-time mayor Brett Tessari but in the end Cr Halstead was the sole candidate.

Cr Tessari was elected unopposed as deputy mayor.

The bloodless elections allow the new council to start their four-year term without the rancour that marked the final year of the previous council after a bitter mayoralty contest a year ago.

Showdown for top job

16/11/2024

Mayoral candidates Brett Tessari and Rochelle Halstead

By Catherine Watson

IT’S been a week of total immersion for Bass Coast’s new councillors with introductions, official photographs and councillor classes on everything from governance to avoiding conflicts of interest to how to fill in their expense forms.

Behind the scenes it’s been equally busy with the two obvious mayoral candidates, returning councillors Brett Tessari and Rochelle Halstead, working the phones and doing the numbers.

While three-time mayor Cr Tessari appears to have the support of the progressive councillors, two-time deputy mayor Cr Halstead has the support of the conservatives.

The contest will be decided on Wednesday at the first meeting of the new council, unless one of them withdraws first.

What happened to PICAL?

14/11/2024

By Catherine Watson

THE announcement of Phillip Island Community and Learning Centre’s (PICAL) demise fortunately proved to be premature, but it’s worth trying to understand how this trusted institution came so close to failing.

The answer is clear to see in the annual information statements that PICAL submits to the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission.

PICAL’s Annual Information Statements show the organisation recorded a deficit for six consecutive years between 2017 and 2022.

On October 4 this year PICAL chairman Graeme Turner announced that the Committee of Management would move to wind up the organisation because of debts due to historic underpayment of staff.

Berninneit scoops fourth award

14/11/2024

National Architecture Awards judges praised the project for its connectedness to community and
cited its inspiration from local geography. Photo: Niki Cahill

THE new Cowes Cultural Centre has been awarded a national architecture prize, celebrating fine design and the importance of connection to country and community.

Berninneit took out a National Award for Public Architecture in the National Architecture Awards in Adelaide on Thursday night.

The impressive arts and cultural hub in Cowes, which was designed by Jackson Clements Burrows Architects and built by McCorkell Constructions, is a Passivhaus-designed building which brings together the arts, story gathering and local amenities.

Meet your new councillors

6/11/2024

New team outside the Bass Coast electoral office. Clockwise from back left, Crs Tim O'Brien (Island Ward), Jon Temby, Jan Thompson and Rochelle Halstead (Western Port), Brett Tessari and Mat Morgan (Bunurong).
Absent: Crs Ron Bauer, Tracey Bell and Meg Edwards.

By Catherine Watson

After a week of counting, preferences were distributed this afternoon and Bass Coast has a new team of councillors to manage our affairs over the next four years, including six new councillors.

Former councillors Brett Tessari, Ron Bauer and Rochelle Halstead were all re-elected with a strong primary vote.

The new councillors are Mat Morgan and Meg Edwards (Bunurong Ward), Tim O’Brien and Tracey Bell (Island Ward) and Jon Temby and Jan Thompson (Western Port Ward).

Former councillors Leticia Laing, David Rooks and Les Larke were unsuccessful. Crs Clare Le Serve, Michael Whelan and Geoff Ellis did not seek re-election.

Election in the balance

5/11/2024

Returning councillors: Brett Tessari, Ron Bauer and Rochelle Halstead

By Catherine Watson

THREE sitting councillors have won re-election in the Bass Coast Council election, one has been dumped and the fate of two hangs in the balance.

Brett Tessari (Bunurong Ward), Ron Bauer (Island Ward) and Rochelle Halstead (Western Port Ward) were all re-elected on their primary vote.

The distribution of preferences will determine the fate of all the other candidates. While most candidates indicated their preferences, scrutineers told the Post there didn’t seem much rhyme or reason to the voting.

Cowes makeover

31/10/2024

The project will enhance connectivity between the Cowes foreshore and the township.

COWES will be transformed into a pedestrian-friendly township that fully embraces its historic foreshore, with $8 million in new Federal Government funding announced today for the council’s Cowes Foreshore Precinct project.

Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, and Local Government, Catherine King, was in Cowes this morning to make the announcement.

Job done

22/10/2024

From ‘renovator’s delight’ to top treatment : Jan Child, left, with Health Minister Jill Hennessy and Bass Coast Health chairman Don Paproth at the announcement of a $115 million upgrade of Wonthaggi Hospital.

By Catherine Watson

BASS Coast Health’s CEO Jan Child has stepped down after eight tumultuous years during which she transformed local health services.

BCH Board Chair Ian Thompson announced her resignation on Friday and paid tribute to her achievements.

Long-serving executive Shaun Brooks will take on the Acting CEO role while the board undertakes a formal recruitment process.

When the Department of Health co-opted Ms Child as acting chief executive in March 2016, Bass Coast Health was in crisis. The CEO had left suddenly, just days after the board chairman had resigned. Wonthaggi Hospital faced a $3.5 million deficit, along with dilapidated facilities, declining services and declining patient numbers.

Breakthrough in woodlands campaign

14/10/2024

The Western Port Woodlands in Bass Coast are excluded from the new Strategic Extractive Resource Areas.

By Catherine Watson

Bass Coast’s woodlands will no longer be considered a priority sand mining area for the state with the announcement of major sand extraction areas at Lang Lang and Trafalgar North.

The Strategic Extractive Resource Areas (SERA) review excludes the entire Bass Coast Shire, with ministerial advisors saying the Extractive Industry Interest Area declaration on woodlands in Bass Coast could be removed once the SERA process is completed.

It’s a breakthrough for the Save Western Port Woodlands (SWPW) community group after five years of campaigning. Bass Coast Shire Council has also advocated to end sand mining in areas of environmental significance.

It doesn’t mean the closure of sand mines already operating in Bass Coast woodlands, but it will make it more difficult for companies to get planning permits for new mines or extensions of existing permits.

PICAL services safe, for now

14/10/2024

WHILE Phillip Island Community and Learning (PICAL) may be forced to wind up, funding and support agencies have moved quickly to ensure crucial services will continue.

PICAL’s committee of management, its umbrella organisation Neighbourhood Houses Gippsland (NGH) and Bass Coast Shire Council have all moved to reassure vulnerable clients.

The discovery of inadvertent under-payments to staff over more than a decade have left the neighbourhood house technically insolvent.

PICAL’s committee of management has called a special general meeting for November 14 to consider a motion to wind up the organisation.

$13m 'hotel' for health workers

11/10/2024

Hotel-style accommodation for staff will be built on vacant land behind Wonthaggi Hospital.

BASS Coast Health has secured $5 million in State Government funding towards building hotel-style accommodation for key health workers and their families on vacant land behind Wonthaggi Hospital.

Acting Bass Coast Health CEO Shaun Brooks said the $13 million project would help meet the challenge of accommodating visiting specialists.

“Like most regional health services, we have Melbourne-based specialists and health workers come for two or more shifts.

Council in the balance

7/10/2024

This story was revised on September 18 after final nominations were confirmed.

Going, going, going ... Crs Michael Whelan, Clare Le Serve and Geoff Ellis

By Catherine Watson

AFTER three progressive councils, the pendulum could be about to swing for Bass Coast Shire with the exodus of three current left-leaning councillors, Clare Le Serve, Michael Whelan and Geoff Ellis.

If the council does swing right, there will likely be less interest in issues such as climate action, reconciliation, the environment and gender equity and more on the traditional three Rs of local government: “roads, rates, and rubbish”.