Correspondence
Nina has compiled submissions to Council re Henwood Cottage due to be further developed. This is one of Mordialloc’s oldest buildings formerly a fishermans’s cottage. Nina has also responded to the proposed 64 unit development of timber yard land in Albert Street, Mordialloc. The public has been invited to comment on Plan Melbourne Refresh.A submission has been sent from MBCL. While there appear to be improvements in some areas these are countradicted further on. For example while councils have to decide where Residential Growth Zones are to be located councils also have to protect existing dwellings in these areas. Difficult to achieve in high density activity centres surely.
Victorian Environmental Assessment Council
VEAC is inviting submissions for a Draft Proposals Paper for an Historic Places Investigation. Subs close 22 December. An opportunity to learn more about this investigation on December 10 at the Royal College of Surgeons, 240-290 Spring Street, Melbourne . Ph 1800 134 803.
Sustainability Fund-Priority Statement
Use of Victoria’s Landfill Levies – what will we invest in they ask . One possibility would be to spend the levies on restoring the green wedge land in preparation for the GW to become the long awaited Chain of Parks in the sandbelt area.
Green Wedge Coalition Meeting
Green Wedge Coalition Meeting recently at RMIT was attended by two MBCL members. Unfortunately the wedges are being nibbled away in the Northern areas particularly but also in the South East around Cranbourne. Fortunately a new member who has worked as a planner has joined the Coalition. Work continues on Yammerbook Reserve Stage 2B with extension of paths connecting to the Long Beach Trail. Work is to commence in the industrial estate on the northern side of Mordialloc Creek above Wells Road Bridge .This will involve creating wetlands by removing the bank as has been done upstream in Waterways Residential Estate. The Herb-rich Grassy Plains Wetlands will be “mostly saved”but Malelucas further to the east will be lost unfortunately. It has been suggested to Kingston Council previously that a bike path constructed on the south bank of Mordialloc Creek, from Wells Road Bridge to Bowen Road, would be an improvement on the present track which is actually a Melbourne Water maintenance track below the level of the levee bank with views of the back of houses. This track becomes waterlogged in wet weather whereas if the track was constructued on the levee bank itself there would be views to the Dandenongs and bird life in the wetlands.
Further Green Wedge News
Walter reported on a meeting -Peninsula Speaks, where he spoke about the South East section of Green Wedge with different problems to those of the Mornington Peninsula GW. Walter also attended Environment Victora’s AGM and was impressed with the attendance -150 mainly young people, some professional . Also suggested that instead of the Government building the unnecessary Mornington Peninsula Freeway Springvale Road be used if yet another road is required.
Beaumaris Fossil Cliffs
It has been suggested that Victoria should have a fossil as a logo as some other States have. Murray Orr, who has acquired many fossils washed up on Beaumaris sea ledges, is checking to see if local schools would be interested in promoting this scheme. It seems unlikely that the fossil cliffs and sea ledges could be included in the Historic Places investigation currently underway even though the cliffs are on Crown land.
Another attempt at nominating the cliffs for Heritage listing will be made in November.
Port Phillip Conservation Council
AGM had an interesting speaker from Deakin University whose subject was the importance of wetlands, seagrass and mangroves as a means of absorbing blue carbon- more effective apparently than forests of trees. Therefore the destruction of mangroves and seagrass through dredging and filling wetland marshes for development is unwise and wasteful.
Mordialloc Surf Life Saving Club Landscaping
A meeting Thursday 19th November, proved to have a better outcome than anticipated. Two new Council staff were found to be as keen as MBCL to retain as much foreshore vegetation as possible even. An ugly, rusty iron fence around a boardwalk was a disappointment but it may disappear to be replaced with a more sensitive material. A further piece of good news was the decision by council planners to route the final section of Kingston’s Bay Trail back-of-kerb from Bay Street car park to the Scullin Reserve- that is along part of the 1984 shared bicycle/pedestrian path from Renninson Street car park to the Scullin Reserve! This may mean removal of some of the mature trees along this section of the trail unless the path can be split around them.
Broken Hill Runs Out of Water
Sunday Age 22 November reports that very soon the outback town will run out of fresh water from the nearby lakes for the first time in any-one’s memory. With rain unlikely in late January the last water that can be treated conventionally will run out . After that the town will need to switch to bore water.
When full the seven lakes that comprise the Menindee Lake System –ephemeral natural lakes hold three times more than Sydney Harbour. Now they are virtually running on empty. Cotton farmers further north are being blamed by some locals- others blame the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. The Darling River is now a muddy trickle also and the only sign of water in Lake Menindee- one of the largest lakes is a mirage.The public also believe that at one stage the NSW Government was planning for Broken Hill to move from surface water to bore water. It is possible that with so much fracking occurring in NSW is also depleting the lake, rivers and bore water -something that Victoria will have to watch if fracking begins in this State.
Well Folks We’ve Come to the End of Another Busy Year
Try to have a restful break over the holiday period without too much stress so that you can come back next year invigorated ready to done the armour and battle the foe- I.m sure there’ll be one to battle.