The entrance to Wonthaggi Hospital will shift to the new main hospital on Friday morning and the existing entrance will be closed.
WE'VE had the preview and on Friday the Wonthaggi Hospital Expansion opens for business with the new Emergency Department, Short Stay Unit, Radiology and Main Reception in place.
The entrance to Wonthaggi Hospital will shift to the new main hospital on Friday morning and the existing entrance will be closed.
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By Catherine Watson LABOR’S Jordan Crugnale has a narrow lead in the battle to retain her position as MP for Bass. A 2.03% swing to the Liberal Party in Bass – against the statewide trend – fell just short. As of Sunday morning, Ms Crugnale has 15,995 votes (50.36%), just 225 ahead of the Liberal Party’s Aaron Brown on 15,730 (49.64%). With such a small margin, the result is provisional with votes to be rechecked and absent votes and some postal votes still to be counted. After a disastrous statewide result, the Liberal Party will be extra keen to secure a consolation prize by regaining the traditionally Liberal seat.
By Catherine Watson OVER the past three years, we’ve watched a muddy building site transform into a landmark building that now dominates the Wonthaggi skyscape. Despite Covid, despite lockdowns, despite shortages of materials and labour, the upgraded Wonthaggi Hospital is nearing completion. The signs are up, the scaffolding is being removed and this Saturday the community has a chance to see inside the $115m expansion during a community open day. By Catherine Watson WHAT a difference two months make. At their August meeting, Bass Coast councillors voted 5-4 to refuse a permit for a 277-unit Lifestyle Residential Village in Cowes. Cr Ron Bauer described it as an ambit application and he might have been right because Lifestyle quickly returned with a modified proposal. At this week’s meeting councillors unanimously – and quickly – approved their application for a village incorporating no more than 256 units. FOUR of the five confirmed parties fielding candidates in the Bass electorate have committed to significant action to protect the Western Port Woodlands if they form government in November or are in a position to negotiate.
The candidates presented their cases in front of 200-plus people in the Corinella Hall on Saturday in a forum organised by Save Western Port Woodlands (SWPW). Aaron Brown (Liberal), Brett Tessari (National), Callum Bugbird (Greens) and Austin Cram (Animals Justice Party) presented varying commitments aimed at preserving the forest corridor between Lang Lang and Bass. By Catherine Watson The Liberal candidate for Bass, Aaron Brown, says a Coalition State Government would update a regional sand mining strategy to protect the Western Port Woodlands. Announcing the commitment today, he said it would address ongoing uncertainty around the extractive industry in the Bass electorate. “I believe that future extraction licences should preference land already cleared of remnant native vegetation so that the existing uncertainty around this issue is addressed once and for all." By Catherine Watson
BASS Coast Council has narrowly approved a four-storey hotel development despite fears expressed by some councillors that it will spoil vistas of the new cultural centre. “We are spending a small fortune to build one of Australia’s showpiece buildings, only to have the vista encroached upon by an apartment block,” Cr Ron Bauer protested. “This is akin to the Sydney Opera House vista being ruined by the adjacent apartment block disdained by Sydneysiders as The Toaster.” By Catherine Watson FREIGHT Victoria has identified the Bass Highway as the major freight route for sand, rock and gravel from projected vast new mines between Leongatha and Inverloch. Extractive Industries of South Gippsland, Supply Chain Study identifies a 160km journey from Leongatha South via the Bass Highway as the preferred haulage route to Melbourne, with potentially devastating consequences for Inverloch, Wonthaggi, Dalyston, Kilcunda and Grantville. The 2019 study concludes demand for extractive resources from South Gippsland will increase rapidly from below 4 million tonnes in 2015 to over 24 million tonnes by 2050. By Jonathan Upson THE South Gippsland Conservation Society (SGCS) has appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to overturn approval of a four-storey hotel on the Inverloch foreshore. The Lido serviced apartment building is proposed by the Forte Group on the site of the old boat sale yard next to the Glade and Inverloch Sound Shell. Bass Coast Shire Council approved the development in June despite 60 objections A LABOR Government will spend up to $290 million to complete the second and third stages of redevelopment at Wonthaggi Hospital. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews made a surprise visit to the hospital this morning to make the announcement in the new Wonthaggi Hospital Expansion, which is due to open in early November. The second stage will add two new 32-bed wards, a medical ward and a sub-acute ward, in a new three-four storey building with an outpatient and day therapy area (including a new dialysis centre) on the bottom and first floors. By Catherine Watson BACK in 2018, former ACTU president and current Labor federal MP Ged Kearney was being hailed by the Weekend Australian, no less, as “swamp saviour Ged” for buying a swampy bit of land in Harmers Haven. The 1.3 hectare block at 60-76 Viminaria Road, adjoining the Yallock-Bullock Marine and Coastal Park, has been the subject of numerous subdivision attempts dating back more than 50 years. The Planning Appeals Board (forerunner of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal) rejected a 13-lot subdivision in 1986, citing the environmental significance of the swamp paperbark heathland which makes up the bulk of the block. “THIS is the right building in the right place,” Cr David Rooks said as councillors unanimously approved a three-storey mixed commercial and residential development at 150 Thompson Avenue, Cowes. The site currently houses a small surf shop and former retro shop and shed. They will be demolished and replaced by ground floor retail space and 22 apartments over two levels (15 two-bedroom and seven one-bedroom) and a rooftop garden for tenants. The officers’ report noted the redevelopment of an existing commercial site within Cowes was encouraged by planning policies, in particular directing apartment style development within the main commercial precinct. BASS Coast is one of Victoria’s fastest growing regional municipalities, with the shire forecast to have a population of close to 48,140 by 2036. Mayor Michael Whelan said the predicted population growth presents a challenge for the council with 10,000 additional dwellings required. “Not only will we need to adequately plan for it but we also need to ensure that appropriate planning policies and controls are in place to protect the valued attributes within our townships, where a new development is proposed.” Now the council wants to know what we value about our neighbourhood to help inform its new Housing Strategy. By Catherine Watson YOU’VE seen the ads: mature couples with perfect white teeth and tastefully silver hair spend their days in expensive leisure wear, playing tennis, paddling in the sea and toasting each other with glasses of very good wine. This, apparently, is life in a Lifestyle community. Not a retirement village, according to Lifestyle. “Our communities are designed for active, fun-loving over 50s living.” It’s been an incredibly popular residential and business model. There are 21 villages around Victoria, including two on the Mornington Peninsula. Lifestyle Cowes at 299-325 Church Street was to have have been number 22 …until Bass Coast councillors this week put a spanner in the works and voted 5-4 this week to knock the application back. By Catherine Watson BASS Coast Council is calling on the State Government to start consulting the council and community on the future of sand mining in the shire. Councillors have warned of the impact on residents of thousands of sand truck movements a day within the shire if the industry continues to expand into designated Extractive Industry Interest Areas. There is currently no opportunity for the council or community to have a say on what areas can be mined and growing frustration that the State Government and ministers will not engage with the council on the issue. By Catherine Watson
RIGHT now a Syrian family on the other side of the world is probably searching for information about a small town called Wonthaggi, somewhere in Victoria, Australia, their future home. Bass Coast has been chosen as one of the first seven communities in Australia to host a refugee family under the Federal Government’s new Community Sponsorship Scheme. The family of husband, wife and four children aged three to nine is currently living in Iraq, having fled Syria during the recent civil war. By Catherine Watson The Liberal Party has taken a punt with today’s announcement of $42 million for an aquatic centre on Phillip Island if the Coalition wins government at the November state election. The Bass Coast Shire Council advocacy list has a Phillip Island aquatic centre at the top – but in concert with a new Bass Coast aquatic centre in Wonthaggi. The council is seeking $79.3 million in state and federal funding to deliver both. Instead the Liberal Party has announced more than half that amount for one pool and zero for the other. MORE than 1000 people walked across the bridge from San Remo to Millowl (Phillip Island) yesterday in a monumental display of support for reconciliation by the Bass Coast community.
The walk was led by Traditional Owners and members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, followed by hundreds of school children and allies. 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 DANDY Premix faces another hurdle in its massive sand mine expansion at Grantville with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to assess potential environmental risks to groundwater and waterways. Last month Planning Minister Richard Wynne gave approval for the company to widen its current pit to 1.2kms and dig 20 metres below the water table subject to meeting certain conditions. The company proposes to wash sand on site, with wastewaters and sludge to go into a 3500ML unlined dredge pond. By Catherine Watson FORMER Bass Coast mayor Brett Tessari is a surprise entrant in the November state election after being selected as the National Party candidate for Bass. The National Party has never contested the seat before and Bass is certainly not the party’s heartland, but they found it hard to pass up on the popular home-grown councillor and footy club president. Mr Tessari spent two years as deputy mayor and three as mayor and has a considerable personal following. At the 2020 council election, he secured 6372 primary votes, almost half the ward total in a five-councillor contest. By Catherine Watson CAPE Paterson residents will fight on to retain Cape’s “village feel” despite failing to persuade the council to press for a reduction in the town boundary. At this week’s council meeting, the council finalised its submission on a draft Bass Coast Statement of Planning Policy, produced as part of the Distinctive Area and Landscape (DAL) project. By Catherine Watson BASS Coast Shire Council is calling on the State Government to fulfil its charter to protect the environment and biodiversity in the face of a surge in sand mining that threatens the shire’s last major forest. In its submission on a draft Bass Coast Statement of Planning Policy (SPP), the council challenges the Government to put protection of biodiversity and threatened species first in the crucial 50-year plan for the shire. The draft policy fails to acknowledge, let alone resolve, the inherent conflict between sand mining and the environment in the forest corridor between Lang Lang and Grantville, according to the council submission. 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. |