Sincere thanks to the outgoing president, Chris King for the considerable work load undertaken during his terms as president. Chris showed tremendous foresight in proposing the establishment of a coalition of environmental groups in the City of Kingston following the amalgamation of councils. The subsequent formation of the Kingston Conservation & Environment Coalition involving twenty conservation groups has proved to be a positive move in promoting environmental issues within the City of Kingston. Chris is also a committee member of the Dandenong Valley Catchment Action Plan which is tackling the considerable endemic problems associated with Mordialloc Creek.
Guest Speaker – Allan Clarke
Allan, who was formerly with the Fisheries & Wildlife Dept, spoke about widespread public concern with the draft document, The Land Conservation Council, Marine and Coastal Special Investigation. Some of these concerns are as follows:-
- Regional Managers are all ex Forestry people with the Land Conservation Council. None of these managers have a background in marine biology.
- Politicians have decided that there would be a percentage of parks. Some of these parks have been offered protection e.g the Jawbone but existing protected sites have been downgraded e.g. the Popes Eye. Ricketts Point and the Beaumaris Cliffs are not listed for protection.
- Only 1.4% of the entire Victorian coastline are declared Sanctuary Zones and even then exploration may be allowed at Minister’s discretion. The Sanctuary Zones are only one kilometre wide. Three kilometres is required for full protection.
- DCNR has not taken overall control of the coastline. Each coastal management Council will exercise control in their area which will extend three
kilometres off-shore. - How will the Sanctuary Zones be policed? Will there be sufficient manpower and equipment to patrol the entire Victorian coastline plus Port Phillip and Westernport Bays.
- The whole of Port Phillip Bay is a declared General Use area meaning that it can be explored for oil, sand or stone mining plus environmentally harmful commercial developments around the coast.
Dandenong Valley Catchment Action Committee (Mordialloc Creek Action Plan)
Chris reports that while the committee supports the wetland filtration scheme originally proposed by Melbourne Water, there is no legal requirement at the moment for Melbourne Water to remove pollution from the creek or to provide sewerage infra- structure. W 28 A should be re-instated to overcome this legal over sight. This committee will act as the Mordialloc representative on the larger Catchment Management Committee for Port Phillip Bay Region.
City of Kingston CCT Negotiations
MAV Union negotiations have broken down with the City of Kingston management. Work bans on maintenance, grass cutting and rubbish collection have been imposed. Communication between staff and management are non-existent. Management want 70% of work to be contracted out which will lead to a deterioration in the present high standard of coastal management. Parks & Gardens staff who have specialised knowledge of the foreshore and park requirements could be lost to be replaced by contract labour.
Ironically recent American experience stresses the need to involve staff in the consultation process rather than demoralising them by “down-sizing”.
Extension of the Bicycle Path along Mordialloc Main Drain
There has been no response from the City of Kingston regarding the proposal to examine an extension of the bike path despite having forwarded information to the Moorabbin office June 22.
Environment Essay Competition
The Hon. Rod Atkinson has asked MBCL to assist with the judging of the essay competition again this year. Special thanks to Mara who has agreed to judge entries in this worthwhile exercise.
Whither MBCL?