The old Holden Proving Ground contains some of the best forest in the region.
By Catherine Watson
A BASS Coast group campaigning for the protection of the region’s last significant forest sees the proposed resale of the Holden Proving Grounds as an opportunity and a threat.
Save Western Port Woodlands spokesman Tim O’Brien said the group was stunned by news that Vietnamese car company VinFast had put the testing ground up for sale less than a year after purchasing it for a sum reported at $36.3 million.
Established by Holden in 1957, the 877-hectare site is mostly remnant coastal forest, now rare in West Gippsland, and is zoned for farming. In recent years, Holden worked with Bass Coast Landcare to manage and monitor the forest.
A BASS Coast group campaigning for the protection of the region’s last significant forest sees the proposed resale of the Holden Proving Grounds as an opportunity and a threat.
Save Western Port Woodlands spokesman Tim O’Brien said the group was stunned by news that Vietnamese car company VinFast had put the testing ground up for sale less than a year after purchasing it for a sum reported at $36.3 million.
Established by Holden in 1957, the 877-hectare site is mostly remnant coastal forest, now rare in West Gippsland, and is zoned for farming. In recent years, Holden worked with Bass Coast Landcare to manage and monitor the forest.
Mr O’Brien said that if the purchase price was correct, it threw a question mark over the non-involvement of the Foreign Review Board which is supposed to approve any sales of agricultural land over the value of $15 million to foreign people or companies.
Given the current state of Australian automotive manufacturing, the HPG is unlikely to be resold as a car testing site, he said.
“The fear is that it could be sold for sand mining or residential development. But it also provides an opportunity for the state and/or federal governments to buy a significant patch of remnant forest that is home to rare and endangered native species including southern brown bandicoots.”
The group is calling on Bass Coast Shire Council to rezone at least the back half of the site – the most valuable portion environmentally – from its current farm zone to public conservation and resource zone or to add a conservation overlay.
Bass Coast Mayor Brett Tessari told the Post the council had not been forewarned of the resale.
The subject was discussed at this week’s informal meeting of councillors, he said, and the council was looking into options for protecting the remnant vegetation, including rezoning and overlays.
“We are very aware of the importance of this bushland to the community and the environment.”
There was a degree of relief when VinFast bought the track last September. The company has good environmental credentials in Vietnam and it continued to work with Bass Coast Landcare to manage the woodlands.
But Covid wrecked the company’s plans to manufacture and test for the Australian market.
Locals say the writing has been on the wall for some time with the proving ground virtually silent most days.
Mr O’Brien said the proposed sale brought SWPW full circle. The group started 18 months ago as Save the Holden Bushlands, after Holden put the proving ground on the market when it decided to close its Australian operation.
By the time the land sold to Vinfast, members had become aware that much of the forest corridor between Lang Lang and Grantville was designated for sand mining. So began a wider campaign to protect remnant forest from sand mining.
More than 2700 people have signed SWPW’s e-petition calling for a moratorium on sand mining in the remnant forest. The e-petition will be presented to the Legislative Chamber of the Victorian Parliament by the Labor MLC for Eastern Victoria, Harriet Shing. Another 1000-plus have signed the paper petition which will be tabled in the Legislative Assembly.
Last week a significant portion of woodland at the northern end of the corridor was gazetted as Strategic Extractive Resource Area (SERA), to provide “certainty of supply” to the mining industry.
SERA was a pilot project for South Gippsland Shire and Wyndham City and is now expected to be extended to other areas of extractive industry interest, including Bass Coast.
Those who made submissions on the project were expecting the report to be exhibited for public comment, followed by a panel hearing.
However, on Friday they were informed that the Planning Minister, Richard Wynne, had exempted himself from the requirements of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and gazetted the amendment the previous day.
The letter to submitters cited a period of public consultation on the draft planning provisions between May 26 and July 24 last year when 304 submissions were received from councils, landowners, community organisations, and interested groups and individuals.”
Justifying his decision, Mr Wynne noted: “The public interest would be served by the immediate implementation of the amendment to support an industry that makes a significant contribution to Victoria’s economic landscape.”
SWPW member Stewart Bisset described the argument as “shonky consultation”. “There was no justification for skipping the consultation stages in the planning amendment process: exhibition of the draft document and a panel hearing to consider submissions.
“It leaves you wondering if they did the SERA consultation in order to avoid a public panel hearing where community groups and the public would have been able to be more involved in the process and comment on the final provisions.”
“Extractive industries are already running, and delaying the SERA implementation for another three to six months to get it right would have little to no impact on sand extraction.”
Despite the disappointment, there was one bit of good news: an appeal by locals, including a petition of 550 people, led to the Adams Creek Nature Reserve being exempted from the SERA provisions.
The SERA report noted: “The extent of SRO mapping has been changed to reflect considerable community concern about applying new planning controls to land in the Adams Creek Nature Reserve.”
The SRO1 designation will still apply to quarries currently operating in the reserve under an approved work authority but will be removed from all other parts of the reserve.
Catherine Watson is a member of Save Western Port Woodlands.
Given the current state of Australian automotive manufacturing, the HPG is unlikely to be resold as a car testing site, he said.
“The fear is that it could be sold for sand mining or residential development. But it also provides an opportunity for the state and/or federal governments to buy a significant patch of remnant forest that is home to rare and endangered native species including southern brown bandicoots.”
The group is calling on Bass Coast Shire Council to rezone at least the back half of the site – the most valuable portion environmentally – from its current farm zone to public conservation and resource zone or to add a conservation overlay.
Bass Coast Mayor Brett Tessari told the Post the council had not been forewarned of the resale.
The subject was discussed at this week’s informal meeting of councillors, he said, and the council was looking into options for protecting the remnant vegetation, including rezoning and overlays.
“We are very aware of the importance of this bushland to the community and the environment.”
There was a degree of relief when VinFast bought the track last September. The company has good environmental credentials in Vietnam and it continued to work with Bass Coast Landcare to manage the woodlands.
But Covid wrecked the company’s plans to manufacture and test for the Australian market.
Locals say the writing has been on the wall for some time with the proving ground virtually silent most days.
Mr O’Brien said the proposed sale brought SWPW full circle. The group started 18 months ago as Save the Holden Bushlands, after Holden put the proving ground on the market when it decided to close its Australian operation.
By the time the land sold to Vinfast, members had become aware that much of the forest corridor between Lang Lang and Grantville was designated for sand mining. So began a wider campaign to protect remnant forest from sand mining.
More than 2700 people have signed SWPW’s e-petition calling for a moratorium on sand mining in the remnant forest. The e-petition will be presented to the Legislative Chamber of the Victorian Parliament by the Labor MLC for Eastern Victoria, Harriet Shing. Another 1000-plus have signed the paper petition which will be tabled in the Legislative Assembly.
Last week a significant portion of woodland at the northern end of the corridor was gazetted as Strategic Extractive Resource Area (SERA), to provide “certainty of supply” to the mining industry.
SERA was a pilot project for South Gippsland Shire and Wyndham City and is now expected to be extended to other areas of extractive industry interest, including Bass Coast.
Those who made submissions on the project were expecting the report to be exhibited for public comment, followed by a panel hearing.
However, on Friday they were informed that the Planning Minister, Richard Wynne, had exempted himself from the requirements of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and gazetted the amendment the previous day.
The letter to submitters cited a period of public consultation on the draft planning provisions between May 26 and July 24 last year when 304 submissions were received from councils, landowners, community organisations, and interested groups and individuals.”
Justifying his decision, Mr Wynne noted: “The public interest would be served by the immediate implementation of the amendment to support an industry that makes a significant contribution to Victoria’s economic landscape.”
SWPW member Stewart Bisset described the argument as “shonky consultation”. “There was no justification for skipping the consultation stages in the planning amendment process: exhibition of the draft document and a panel hearing to consider submissions.
“It leaves you wondering if they did the SERA consultation in order to avoid a public panel hearing where community groups and the public would have been able to be more involved in the process and comment on the final provisions.”
“Extractive industries are already running, and delaying the SERA implementation for another three to six months to get it right would have little to no impact on sand extraction.”
Despite the disappointment, there was one bit of good news: an appeal by locals, including a petition of 550 people, led to the Adams Creek Nature Reserve being exempted from the SERA provisions.
The SERA report noted: “The extent of SRO mapping has been changed to reflect considerable community concern about applying new planning controls to land in the Adams Creek Nature Reserve.”
The SRO1 designation will still apply to quarries currently operating in the reserve under an approved work authority but will be removed from all other parts of the reserve.
Catherine Watson is a member of Save Western Port Woodlands.