Blog Posts

The Housing and Neighbourhood Character project aims to preserve the unique character
of our neighbourhoods.

IT’S only just gone out for public consultation but Bass Coast’s Housing and Neighbourhood Character project is already having an impact, being cited when the council refused a Ventnor planning application at Wednesday’s council meeting.

Council officers had recommended the council approve the application for two double-storey, five-bedroom dwellings at 30 Grossard Point Road despite 45 objections.

Cr David Rooks moved an alternative motion to refuse the permit. He said it did not sit with Ventnor's neighbourhood character, or the draft Bass Coast Housing Strategy, which recognises Ventnor as an area for minimal change. “Minimal change means subdivisions and multiple dwellings should be discouraged.”

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Wonthaggi takes one for the team

23/2/2024

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Wonthaggi's growth spares the rest of the shire, but not everyone is
happy about it.

CR BRETT Tessari didn’t mince his words when he spoke against restricting residential land supply in Cape Paterson at this week’s council meeting.

“I don’t agree with the doubling of the size of Cape Paterson … but I think to close the doors completely on Cape Paterson is a short-sighted view.

“I can’t help think of families that have grown up there and their kids have built there, and now their kids are going to have to move out of their town where they’ve lived all their lives.

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Council turnaround boosts Cape campaign

21/2/2024

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The Cape community has waged a long campaign to stop a massive expansion. Photo: Frank Flynn

By Catherine Watson

THE Cape Paterson community is cautiously optimistic that with strong council support it will finally win a decade-long battle to stop a massive expansion of the township.

Former Liberal planning minister Matthew Guy extended the Cape boundary north in 2012 against the wishes of the community and the council, and against the advice of a planning panel. If it proceeds, the extension would potentially double the population of Cape Paterson.

During last year’s panel hearings for the Bass Coast Distinctive Areas and Landscapes (DAL), Cape residents argued for the Protected Settlement Boundary (PSB) to be returned to Seaward Drive to retain the village feel of Cape and protect the area’s sensitive coastal ecology.

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Holden plan wins support

24/1/2024

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Local conservationists say plans for the former Holden Proving Ground represent a conservation opportunity.

By Catherine Watson

THE former Holden Proving Ground is back in the spotlight with an entrepreneur proposing to continue running it as a vehicle testing track while also using it for classic car events.

The proposal depends on the back half of the proving ground being purchased for conservation purposes. This is about 400 hectares of very high grade remnant woodland which forms the central chunk of the Western Port Woodlands.

The prospective purchaser, who does not wish to be named at this stage, has been working with conservation groups on the proposal.

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Wonthaggi set to double

18/1/2024

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IF YOU think Wonthaggi seems busy lately, you ain't seen nothing yet. Bass Coast Shire Council today received the green light for massive new estates that will eventually house more than 12,000 people.

The Wonthaggi North-East Precinct Structure Plan will double the size of Wonthaggi and expand the business and industry precinct to provide major investment and new jobs for the region.

The State Government gazetted the plan on Thursday, unlocking 444 hectares of residential land for development. Over 5000 homes are expected to be established in the precinct over the next 30-50 years.

The project reinforces Wonthaggi’s role as a regional centre in proximity to the metropolitan area and the surrounding Gippsland regions. Community facilities will include a primary school, local parks, over 90 hectares of open space, trails and a new sports reserve for residents.

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Box bags top job

14/12/2023

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Bass Coast Mayor Clare Le Serve with the new council CEO Greg Box

AFTER five months of looking, 25 applications and an exhaustive interview process, Bass Coast councillors have chosen one of our own as the new council CEO.

Greg Box has worked at Bass Coast Shire for close to three years, following almost 30 years of local government leadership experience at Yarra Ranges Council and the City of Greater Dandenong.

He is currently the council’s general manager of partnerships, economy and culture but when he returns from leave at the end of January he will step into the top role.

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Take that, Westpac!

14/12/2023

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By Catherine Watson

“A disgrace … charlatans of the worst order … dirty money …” Cr Michael Whelan didn’t hold back as he explained why Bass Coast Shire Council should give the big four banks the flick.

It was a flash of the old Cr Whelan, who has been on a tight diplomatic leash as mayor for the past two years. Now that he’s a plain old councillor again he’s free to speak his mind.

He certainly did that at Wednesday’s council meeting while proposing an amendment to the council’s investment policy to more quickly divest from banks funding fossil fuel projects.

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No thanks, say homeowners

13/12/2023

Surf Beach and Sunderland Bay ratepayers overwhelmingly rejected a roads and drainage upgrade

By Catherine Watson

BASS Coast Shire Council this week formally dumped the Surf Beach Sunderland Bay special charge scheme, acknowledging most owners did not want to pay for the $32 million upgrade.

After 18 months of often bitter debate, and over $500,000 spent by the council, the road and drainage scheme was formally abandoned at yesterday’s council meeting.

The council will review its urban roads and drainage policy next year, following a couple of expensive failures to progress special charge schemes in recent years,

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Making dreams come true

2/12/2023

Griffiths Point Lodge resident Betty Pescud, front, at the Victorian Public Healthcare Awards with Bass Coast Health’s Donna Dalton, Hope Thomas, Janette Elliott, Natasha Stapleton and Christine Henderson.

By Brad Lester

When residents of Griffiths Point Lodge were asked to name their bucket list, their dreams included going for a swim, visiting a horse racing track and riding in a racing car.

Then the dedicated staff of the San Remo residential care home set about turning dreams into reality.

David Graham, a high care resident with significant mobility needs, wanted to visit a thoroughbred horse racing track. Staff acquired a made-to-order wheelchair that enabled him access to transport in Griffith Point Lodge’s accessible bus.

Betty Pescud was treated to a ride in a race car around the Phillip Island Grand Prix track.

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Worth the wait

16/11/2023

B-day: Roxanne Smith, operations manager for Bass Coast Cultural Venues, Anne Davie, Mayor Michael Whelan and Hannah Eisen, the council’s senior project manager at the opening of Berninneit

By Catherine Watson

IN JULY 1992, as a councillor for the Shire of Phillip Island, Anne Davie moved that the council explore the opportunity for a community and arts centre on this site. When her fellow councillors narrowly supported her motion, she remembers jumping up and shouting “Hallelujah!”

The jubilation was premature. There were to be five designs, two different councils, many council terms, 31 years, $31 million and countless disappointments before Phillip Island got its cultural centre.

For Anne, the toughest time was when the incoming council cancelled the project after the 2016 election. “But then they revisited it and redesigned it, and the outcome is probably even better.

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Cr Le Serve elected mayor

15/11/2023

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Bass Coast Mayor Clare Le Serve is flanked by Deputy Mayor Rochelle Halstead and acting CEO following a tense election.

By Catherine Watson

THE last time Clare Le Serve was elected mayor of Bass Coast was in November 2012 and she’d been a councillor for just two weeks.

Eleven years later, following a tense contest, she’s been re-elected mayor for her swansong year as a councillor representing the Western Port Ward.

At today’s council meeting, she defeated fellow Western Port councillor Rochelle Halstead by 5 votes to 4.

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Broadbent dumps Libs

13/11/2023

Liberal no more: The MP for Monash will serve out his term on the crossbench.

By Catherine Watson

RENEGADE Liberal MP Russell Broadbent had one more trick up his sleeve after the Liberal Party called time on his political career. He responded in kind.

Yesterday he announced he had left the party he has belonged to for almost half a century and would move to the crossbench.

“On Sunday, there was a pre-selection where I received less than 10% of the vote,” Mr Broadbent posted on his Facebook page. “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.

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That's NO! from us

16/10/2023

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By Catherine Watson

TWO out of three Bass Coast voters voted NO in the referendum on a First Nations voice to Parliament, well above the state average of 55 per cent and the Australian average of 60 per cent.

YES votes were a majority at just four of Bass Coast’s 16 polling places: Cape Paterson, Cowes, Inverloch and Newhaven.

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Dinosaur dream takes shape

13/10/2023

The entrance to the Gondwana Garden in Wonthaggi featuring Koolasuchus cleelandi, named for legendary local palaentologists Lesley Kool and Mike Cleeland.

CREATIVE designs for the $18 million first phase of the Bass Coast Dinosaurs Trail have been released, showcasing six sites celebrating the polar dinosaurs that inhabited the region 125 million years ago.

The designs feature sculptures, gardens, a treetop walk and adventure playground, along with interactive experiences incorporating sensors, LED lighting, full-body tracking and immersive 3D animations.

The trail – so far unfinanced – is planned to open in 2026 and forecast to attract almost 100,000 extra visitors a year by 2035.

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Cowes renaissance

22/9/2023

By Catherine Watson

IN RECENT years, the adjectives used to describe Cowes would probably have included dowdy, tawdry and daggy.

But suddenly it’s all happening in Cowes. The $27 million Cowes Cultural Centre, Berninneit, is due to open in November; the Phillip Island Community Hospital will open next year, and two major hotels are in the works.

On Wednesday, councillors unanimously approved an $85 million waterfront hotel on the former Isle of Wight site. The development by Moda Phillip Island Pty Ltd includes a seven-storey mixed-use hotel with 163 rooms, a pool deck overlooking the ocean and rooftop basketball and tennis courts.

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Yes we do

21/9/2023

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Yes supporters gathered for the council vote.

By Catherine Watson

BASS Coast has joined the ranks of Victorian councils that have formally endorsed a Yes vote in next month’s referendum.

At Wednesday’s meeting, councillors debated whether the council should take a position before narrowly endorsing council support for a constitutionally enshrined First Nations Voice to Parliament.

As of August 30, just 16 of Victoria’s 79 councils had endorsed a Yes vote, including three other rural shires: Yarra Ranges, Hepburn and Surf Coast.

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'What's on at Berninneit?'

19/8/2023

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Berninneit, the Cowes Cultural and Community Centre

By Catherine Watson

BERNINNEIT … get used to saying and hearing it because we’re going to be using it a lot.

Following a public vote, Berninneit (pronounced burn-eh-neet and meaning “gather together”) has been endorsed as the First Nations name for the new Cowes cultural centre which is scheduled to open late this year.

The council will now submit the name to the State Government’s Registrar of Geographic Names for consideration and inclusion in Vicnames.

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Crunch time for beach settlements

18/8/2023

AFTER all the tumult and the shouting about Surf Beach and Sunderland Bay upgrades, it’s now up to the affected ratepayers to make the final decision.

Councillors at Wednesday’s meeting unanimously supported the declaration of a special charge scheme for the works, estimated to cost $35 million.

Mayor Cr Michael Whelan said formally starting the process did not mean it will go ahead. “This process is about giving residents as much information as possible, so they can make a decision on whether they support the project,” he said.

The preferred concept design was Option 1 (with modifications), which was the lowest cost option. It includes road sealing, kerb and channelling, underground drainage, meandering footpaths on only the main connector roads, road narrowings to slow traffic and vegetated swale drains at selected locations.

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Albert Ruttle wetlands safe … for now

17/8/2023

By Catherine Watson

RESIDENTS of the Albert Ruttle estate west of Inverloch are waiting for the next move in the long-running battle to preserve their wetlands.

The 8ha Albert Ruttle Wetlands Reserve is an important biodiversity site, popular with birdwatchers and walkers from the estate and also the wider Inverloch community, and part of the Inverloch-Wonthaggi biolink,

The development of the wetlands, which featured in marketing of the estate, was a condition of the original planning agreement for the Albert Ruttle subdivision back in 1993.

Or so residents of the estate believed. In 2017 a real estate agent informed them that the heavily wooded reserve was being sold as two housing blocks.

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RACV $13.6m resort plans approved … with caveat

17/8/2023

Councillors call for government guidance on how to handle coastal development in an age of climate change.

By Catherine Watson

BASS Coast Council has approved a $13.6 million extension of the RACV’s Inverloch resort despite the risk of inundation to the access road.

The RACV proposes to add 44 rooms, 39 car spaces and a new wedding deck to the existing resort. But first it will have to address concerns around the flooding risk to the satisfaction of the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (CMA).

The CMA objected to the development on the basis that the Cape Paterson-Inverloch Road has been identified as at risk of inundation with no alternative exit for guests and staff in the event of a major flood.

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Thumbs down for 'eco-retreat'

17/8/2023

Kitty Miller Bay residents Linda Cuttriss, Greg Newell, John Field and Kate Field with Michelle Maes (Phillip Island Conservation Society) welcomed the decision to refuse the development.

By Catherine Watson

A PROPOSED $8 million ‘eco-tourist resort’ at Kitty Miller Bay has been emphatically rejected by Bass Coast Shire Council.
Councillors unanimously rejected the application.

But while residents and conservationists celebrated the refusal, potential tourist developers would have been confused by the result.

The application was the first major development submitted under the new Bass Coast Unlocking Rural Tourism (BURT) Strategy, adopted in March, which encourages large-scale tourist ventures in the farming zone and designated Special Use Zones at Newhaven, Ventnor and Kitty Miller Bay.

The development proposal explicitly referred to the BURT strategy, noting the resort would capture new tourism activities and markets – in this case parties of Chinese tourists – as Bass Coast tourism recovers from the Covid pandemic.

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Kent steps down

7/8/2023

Bruce Kent

By Catherine Watson

BASS Coast councillor Bruce Kent resigned today, following criticism of his minimal input into council affairs over the past six months. (Missing in action).

Bass Coast Shire Council has notified the Victorian Electoral Commission of the resignation, which clears the way for the return of former councillor Geoff Ellis.

Mr Ellis, who served as a councillor from 2016-20, will fill the vacancy as the only other candidate for the three-councillor Western Port ward at the 2020 election.

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$1.5m bailout for State Coal Mine

27/7/2023