By Catherine Watson
 
WHEN you note a cavalcade of senior politicians on the Bass Highway, you know we’re living in a very marginal electorate. And that’s good news for Bass Coast with the prospect of a political bidding war before the November state election.
 
With visits by the leaders of the Labor, Liberal and National parties in recent weeks, it’s clear that the seat of Bass is in the balance. 

By Catherine Watson
 
Bass Coast Shire Council has expressed shock at the Planning Minister’s decision to approve a massive expansion of a Grantville sand mine despite more than 70 objections.
 
Richard Wynne’s approval this week permits Dandy Premix to clear 13 hectares of vegetation in a Western Port Woodlands biolink for a new pit and to massively expand its current pit, including digging below the water table.
 
As part of the planning permit conditions, the company will be permitted to increase truck movements from 120 to 240 a day; to operate for longer hours – until 2am on weekdays and 10pm on Saturdays despite residents living within 300 metres of the site. ​

BASS Coast Health board director Mim Kershaw knew all the statistics about COVID 19 – but she really didn’t understand the impact until she caught it herself.

She had heard about the policies, the numbers, the strategy and the toll it has taken on the BCH team who have been front and centre for more than two years.
 
She heard the BCH team talk about how COVID can affect normally healthy people, but only realised the full impact when she suffered the COVID disease herself. ​

By Catherine Watson
 
BASS Coast cats are on notice – their days of carousing, brawling and stalking innocent birds are drawing to a close.

Councillors this week voted to adopt the Domestic Animal Management Plan which mandates a 24/7 cat lockdown from July 1, 2023.
 
Local cats were placed under a night time curfew in 2016, with the idea that it would eventually expand to become a 24/7 grounding. The time has arrived.​

By Catherine Watson
 
“HERO” dinosaurs, a Gondwana garden, virtual reality fossil hunts, light shows and sculptures are part of the vision for the proposed Bass Coast Dinosaurs Trail.
 
A draft master plan released for community comment last week proposes that four dinosaurs and a huge polar amphibian will be used to differentiate six crucial sites at San Remo, Kilcunda, Wonthaggi, Eagles Nest, The Caves and Inverloch. Each stop on the trail would have a different theme and character, exemplified by its own dinosaur.

The plan was developed for the council by Melbourne consultants Hassell, in partnership with Parks Victoria, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, the Bunurong Land Council, the Science and Research Expertise Committee and local tourism bodies and community organisations.