View from Bass Coast Shire Council councillors

From Bass Coast to Bells Beach, coastal councils are struggling to respond to local flood risks and coastal erosion.

By Michael Whelan

AS YOU return to our Bass Coast beaches in the coming months many of you may be distressed to see the impact of coastal erosion.

In 2019, we declared a Climate Emergency and developed a comprehensive Climate Change Action Plan to cut our community’s emissions to zero by 2030. This plan also includes adaptation to respond to climate impacts, one of those being coastal erosion.

The State Government’s latest modelling has confirmed our concerns, that unless serious action is taken now, coastal erosion will impact dozens of houses in Inverloch in coming decades.

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Local government on the big stage

30/6/2022

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Macedon Ranges Shire councillor Janet Pearce, Bass Coast Shire councillor Leticia Laing, Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor Sarah Race, Federal Minister for Local Government Kristy McBain, ALGWA President and Maroondah City councillor Kylie Spears and City of Kingston deputy mayor Jenna Davey-Burns.

By Leticia Laing

AS A newbie to the conference game I was keen to suck the marrow out of my first Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) conference and National General Assembly in Canberra held a couple of weeks ago.

It was a worthwhile experience but I wonder whether there is hope of solving the challenges that face pretty much all of Australia’s 537 local councils.

Things are bad when even the experts are talking about using caravans as “temporary” homes and suggesting that councils should “try everything”. This was the advice from Regional Australia Institute professor Andrew Beer, University of South Australia, during the Regional Forum on day one.

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Welcome aboard!

4/5/2022

Cr Rochelle Halstead, right, says Hannah Eisen showed her leadership qualities when she was elected the first female president of the Phillip Island Board Riders Club.

By Rochelle Halstead

AS A former Frankston mayor and a councillor in the Frankston and Bass Coast councils, I’m often asked whether we need more women in local government. Of course we should welcome women into leadership roles, partly for reasons of equality but also because their involvement inspires younger generations of girls.

We only have to look at what happened when the AFL introduced women’s teams. Female participation skyrocketed to a point where local government has been frantically providing female change rooms. It’s refreshing to see women contributing not only in the club’s tuck shop, where they have long been treasured, but now on the field itself and in the board rooms of clubs around the country.

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Michael Whelan Q&A

19/11/2021

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Bass Coast councillors have elected Michael Whelan as Mayor for 2021-22. He was the only nominee for the position.

Bass Coast Post: Why did you want to be Mayor?
Cr Michael Whelan: I like to get things done. I commend Brett for his great work over the past three years and look to building on that.

I am a strategic thinker and I think my government relations experience will be of great benefit in the challenges in the year ahead as we face a Federal and a State election.

I'll also drive the climate change action plan with an emphasis on the opportunities as well as the challenges it presents.

A key area of our approach needs to be our relationship with Landcare and the carbon farming initiative. I want to broaden that out to include other forms of carbon laydown including blue carbon.

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The sea won't wait

18/11/2021

Inverloch Surf Club. Photo: South Gippsland Conservation Society

By Leticia Laing

INVERLOCH Surf Beach is the beating heart of Inverloch and the main reason tourists go there to spend the tourism dollars our shire is so reliant on. The economic value of the beach to Inverloch has previously been estimated at $4 million per year but could be a lot higher.

To me and many others in our community, you can’t put a price tag on our coastlines and beach way of life.

Recent analysis by the South Gippsland Conservation Society’s Inverloch Coastal Resilience Project found that the coastline at Wreck Creek, west of the Surf Club, has receded by 70 metres since 2010 with about 2.8 hectares of dune vegetation having been swept away between Cape Paterson Road and the Surf Club.

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Brett Tessari Q&A

5/11/2021

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Brett Tessari with friend, mentor and former mayor Pam Rothfield

Bass Coast Post: Two terms as deputy mayor, three as mayor – you’ve decided that’s enough?

Brett Tessari: I have. I loved being mayor. I love the prestige, I love representing the community, but it’s time to give someone else a chance. I’m just about sick of hearing myself talk and it’s time for another voice. I’ve had a lot of people thanking me for my service, which blew me away. The support has been overwhelming. But I’m sort of worn down with the few people in the community that are constantly at you. It’s just constant, to try and bring the council down, and you as mayor. It’s for no community benefit whatsoever. It just wears you down. I’m getting bitterer and angrier than I should. They’ve probably worn me down and it’s time to step back.

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Caught in the slipstream

26/8/2021

Floating wind catcher by Norwegian company Wind Catching Systems produces renewable energy for 80,000 homes at prices comparable to traditional fossil fuels.

By Michael Whelan

WHEN it comes to climate change, it is easy to be overwhelmed by negativity and despondency. I choose to talk of the productive things we can do to address climate change that will reduce carbon emissions and also have positive impacts on other aspects of our lives.

The transition to the renewable economy will be as revolutionary as the move from horse and cart to the steam engine. But Australia needs to act quickly and decisively to embrace a vital business opportunity or we will be left in the slipstream of other more far-sighted countries.

The problem, as we all know, is that we are being held back by obstruction from Canberra and a lack of urgency at other levels of government.

The level of government that is acting most decisively so far is local government. In 2019 Bass Coast Shire Council declared a climate emergency and earlier his year we adopted a climate action plan that identifies actions that individuals, businesses, the agricultural sector and Council can take to achieve net zero emissions by 2030.

Since July 1 all council activities have been powered by 100 per cent renewable power in a landmark deal with 46 other Victorian councils that also cuts the shire’s energy bill.

Part of my work as a Bass Coast councillor involves chairing a group of councillors representing nine councils in Melbourne’s southeast, from Port Phillip to Bass Coast. We make up the councillor advisory group to South East Councils Climate Change Alliance or SECCCA, which is proactive in advocacy and support of climate action projects.

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Pamela Rothfield Q&A

16/9/2020

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The new Bass Coast councillors, November, 2016. Pamela Rothfield, front row, second from left, was elected by her fellow councillors to serve the first two years as mayor.

Former Bass Coast mayor and departing councillor reflects on the achievements, the surprises, the frustrations, the naysayers, and the challenges ahead.

Bass Coast Post: When you decided to stand in 2016, what did you hope to achieve?
Pamela Rothfield: My campaign in 2016 was based on a Better Deal for the Island. I believed, being an “outsider looking in”, that Phillip Island and San Remo did not receive equity in relation to the investment in capital works compared to the rates paid. Once on the “inside” I pushed for the only way I could see to secure decent capital works projects – through advocacy as Council just did not have the funds.

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Get ready for action

29/5/2020

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Brett Tessari

By Brett Tessari

The shutdown of international tourism has hit Bass Coast hard. With more than one in three jobs in our shire directly or indirectly reliant on tourism, more than 1200 local jobs had disappeared by the end of April.

A lot of businesses have shut their doors and some may not open again. Difficult times lie ahead for many people.

So it’s really important that we – the council, businesses and individuals – take advantage of any opportunities that come our way. And believe me, they are already happening.

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A time to spend

16/4/2020

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Capital projects such as the $20m Cowes Cultural Centre will be the key to rebuilding Bass Coast’s devastated economy after the COVID-19 crisis.

By Michael Whelan

THE COVID-19 crisis poses a global health management challenge whilst concurrently pulling down our social, financial and commercial structures. The cost of control is immense but the horror of an out-of-control pandemic is truly frightening. I am comforted by the willingness of the Government to accept the science on this disaster.

Locally, Bass Coast Health’s leadership has put us in good stead to manage an outbreak of the disease and I’m pleased with the municipal emergency arrangements led by council. This has rightly been the priority at this stage.

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Closer to the edge

3/4/2020

The clock is ticking as workers race to complete protection work on Inverloch beach before the storm season.

By Cr Geoff Ellis

IN OUR brave new world the sign says this beach is closed. People rightly meander past and on the beach a scattered few keep their distance as they navigate around boulders and freshly cut caterpillar tracks.

Red bunting regulates a worksite. Within that insecure boundary, heaps of sacrificial sand keep the tide at bay as giant diggers fill giant sand bags to build a wall. Behind that wall are the narrow remains of a dune that once stretched 30 metres to the water’s distant edge.

The Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club cowers behind those bags. It makes sense to have such clubs near the water but this one is now far too close. As that protective dune diminished the general public, along with some experts, said that only rock, and lots of it, could save the clubhouse.

The multi-agency group that is responsible for the foreshore considered all the options. A geotextile wall was their preference.

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Such arrogance!

19/3/2020

No place to hide: Google Earth shows the foreshore encroachment by some Grantville landowners.

By Cr Bruce Kent

A LOWLIGHT of the month for me was a walk along the Grantville beach with members of the foreshore committee.

Someone has put in a boat ramp. The tree removal is atrocious. People are cutting their own tracks so they can have a view of the water.

The boat ramp astounded me. The arrogance of some of our residents! Just so they can have what they believe is a better lifestyle.

I can tell them when the water comes through their back door they’ll realise they’ve done something wrong

Cr Bruce Kent

The foreshore committee is doing a fantastic job down there to try and save the foreshore. They’re getting in there and using their own equipment. What we saw was fantastic in regards to the walks they’ve built there and repaired.

But it is so hard to hold these members of the public responsible without catching them red handed. I ask the public to step forward.

If you see your neighbours doing the wrong thing, please contact the council.

This is an edited transcript of Cr Bruce Kent’s monthly report at Bass Coast Shire Council’s monthly meeting on Wednesday.

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Mum’s the word on special day

24/10/2019

Cr Pamela Rothfield, left, looks unimpressed as Cr Les Larke, right, accuses activists of desecrating Mothers' Day.

By Catherine Watson

A BASS Coast councillor’s invocation of the spirit of motherhood to denounce local climate activists backfired when the two mothers amongst his council colleagues turned on him.

On Mothers’ Day, members of a small group called Xtinction Rebellion Gippsland held a short vigil for Mother Nature outside the Inverloch hub in response to a UN report that a million species are at risk of extinction as a result of climate change.

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Democracy… what’s that?

18/10/2019

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Cr Les Larke

Councillor accuses Bass Coast Council of "authoritarian" leadership in its declaration of a climate emergency. 

By Cr Les Larke

COUNCIL decided not to rescind the climate emergency governance resolution of 21 August 2019 or allow debate thereon. In that regard, Council had been called upon to show leadership in relation to climate change. I agree, and let me illustrate the difference between two styles of leadership, namely autocratic and democratic leadership.

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How do you like that view?

27/9/2019

Erecting large signs to block the view will put a dampener on property owners who cut down trees on adjacent public land, writes Cr Stephen Fullarton

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The people have spoken

13/9/2019

Inverloch's beach erosion issues and shared pathway have nothing to do with each other, argues Cr Les Larke.

By Cr Les Larke

BASS Coast Shire Council recognises the importance of being community driven for the purpose of improving the overall quality of life of people in the local community.
In that regard, let me illustrate a few points on the community consultation results in relation to the Surf Parade shared pathway extension:

A letter was sent to all Inverloch property owners
A wide range of other engagement methods were used including targeted community group sessions, pop up tents, Facebook and other forms of social media and online survey conducted.
A high level of submissions were received
The result of the overall community consultation was overwhelmingly 73% in favour of the recommended Surf Parade pathway extension option 2.

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This one's for Seamus, Eliza and Thomas

29/8/2019

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Cr Michael Whelan and grandson Thomas

By Cr Michael Whelan

THERE are three reasons why I’m passionate about action on climate change. Their names are Seamus, Eliza and Thomas, and they’re my grandchildren. Little Thomas and his peers around the world have got more at stake in this business than anyone in this room. That’s what it’s all about. It’s about trying to turn this around because we are heading to disaster if we don’t.

This is an incredibly important issue because we are facing an existential crisis in the world. Business as usual won’t do it. We’re already seeing the consequences of 1 degree of global warming. Locally we’ve lost almost 50 metres of coastline at Inverloch. Cowes East is under attack. What’s happening at Jam Jerrup is scaring the hell out of the locals.

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New chapter for Grantville

20/7/2019

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A new Waterline library in Grantville is a vote of confidence in the area, writes Cr Geoff Ellis.

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Moving mountains of waste

20/6/2019

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With China’s ban on mixed waste imports, Australia’s recycling system is in crisis. Amidst the gloom, however, Cr Pamela Rothfield sees plenty of reason for optimism.

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Planning certainty essential

18/4/2019

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Clear guidelines on development in Bass Coast will help us balance growth and protection of what we most value, writes Mayor Brett Tessari

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We've got work to do

21/3/2019

Jobseekers are being punished for being unemployed, writes Cr Michael Whelan, and the rest of us need to speak up on their behalf.

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Study hub a game changer

8/3/2019

By Cr Brett Tessari

THE new senior campus of Wonthaggi Secondary College will be up and running by 2020. And if everything goes our way, we could also see a new university campus.

The idea is a central hub set up for anyone who wants to do any course Australia wide. Any university can come and utilise the facilities. Anyone who’s enrolled in a university can use the facilities. They can use it remotely, they can come and do one course, and the universities might send down people to lecture on certain occasions.

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Time and tide

4/2/2019

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After 10 years, the sand has stabilised and vegetation has returned behind the rock wall at Jam Jerrup. The story is very different at either end of the wall.

By Cr Geoff Ellis

AROUND a decade ago, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) turned the Jam Jerrup foreshore into a science experiment. The aim was to determine if a rock wall would hold back the forces of nature better than groynes or mangroves.

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What I learned

29/11/2018