IN FEBRUARY this year, 12 young mothers - the Swell Mamas - and their children met on the Inverloch beach for the start of a great adventure that would change all their lives.

TIM SHANNON asks why Phillip Islanders would want to walk away from engaging with their region just as things are changing for the better.

Mal McCann took just 10 minutes to persuade a roomful of sceptical Phillip Islanders that the island didn’t need a hospital.

The federal budget means the almost certain demise of Landcare, writes Anne Davie, and local MP and Environment Minister Greg Hunt should have known better. ​

Dredging for the Port of Hastings could be calamitous for Phillip Island, writes JEFF NOTTLE.

Several Waterline communities went from open access to our beaches for dogs on a leash to access only for very restricted hours of the day, writes Joy Button

With the Victorian premier espousing the “Shanghai of the South” for Western Port, an academic study published 35 years ago has new relevance. ​ By Anne Paul AS A student in the 1980s, I used Dilemma...

When Bass Coast councillors voted to trial a new time exclusion for dogs on Inverloch beaches this summer, the debate became red-hot. We hear from two corners of the debate via Jordan Crugnale and Inverloch resident and dog lover Hendrika T.

As Wonthaggi looks towards a new status as one of the state’s “growth centres”, Neil Rankine says we have a rare opportunity to ensure we attract the right sort of development and reinvigorate the town...

Under siege by a family obsessed with cleanliness, Lis Williams suddenly feels sympathy for her own mother.

JOY BUTTON delves into Coronet Bay’s history and discovers some wonderful characters, not least among a new garden group, the Horticultural Healers.

By Nicolas Low MY wife Liz and I first visited Cape Paterson after Liz's sister bought a holiday house there. We were delighted by the beauty of the beaches and the rural coastal village feel of...

THE Smith’s Beach all-access ramp has been described as one of the ugliest and most intrusive buildings in Bass Coast. By Phil Wright

Annoyed by clumsy locutions, peculiar pronunciations and asinine Americanisms, Pamela Jacka thinks it’s time to stand up for the English language and the Australian idiom. IS IT just me or are there...

When it comes to building sustainable houses, we know what works; we just don’t do it. A Cowes forum will ask why. ​ By Terence Nott DO THE new housing estates on Phillip Island offer more sustainable...

By Janet Donaldson GRANTVILLE residents and ratepayers are not as well disposed to the proposed sand quarry as some suggest. Real estate values in the immediate area could plummet, a local agent suggests,...

The resignation of former state water minister Tim Holding on Friday prompted Mark Robertson to reflect on the ongoing costs – environmental and financial – of the desalination project.

After watching a pair of hoodies fail to raise a single chick from four clutches of eggs last summer, the Cape Paterson hoodies have their fingers crossed By Graeme Henry I FIRST became a plover lover...

When Laura Brearley went for a walk to see the shearwaters return at dusk, she had no idea it would change her life and lead to Phillip Island’s first Shearwater Festival.

Stella Axarlis has always been a commanding presence, first on the opera stage, then on the factory floor and then in community service.