19 Jun NEWSLETTER JUNE 2022
MAINTAINING THE BELLARINE AS A DISTINCTIVE AREA AND LANDSCAPE
We have been immersed in the hearings for the Bellarine Peninsula DAL. Thank you to our members for their very generous support. The hearings are now over. We wait for the Committees report and wonder where it will all end. We understand a report is required by early July.
The focus of the draft Statement of Planning Principle (SPP) and of the proposed Protected Settlement Boundary’s (PSBs) specified within it, is the protection and conservation of the distinctive attributes as they exist across the whole of the declared area. The focus is not on individual land parcels.
While each of the landscape experts called by the submitters focused on an individual land parcel and its immediate surrounds in undertaking their assessment.
The experts for proposed development beyond the PSB for Barwon Heads expressed a view about whether the proposed PSB for Barwon Heads ensures the protection and conservation of the distinctive attributes within the declared area but failed to address the fact that the study area is adjacent to the Murtnaghurt Lagoon, which is a Ramsar protected wetland and one of the declared area’s distinctive attributes.
Good People
We engaged Shelly Fanning from Coastal Planning to represent us, she did a very professional job for the BHA, in a world populated with the highest ranking QC’s . Thank you Shelly.
We are amazed that the initial 2 weeks allocated for the hearing turned into 6 weeks. Developers were given significant allocation of time and have used an extraordinary range of consultants that have lined up to use their expertise to submit that the many green breaks and farmlands that are protected from future development in order to protect the landscapes of the Bellarine should be developed for low-cost housing.
We acknowledge the excellent management of a very difficult process by Con Tsotsoros, the Chair of the Distinctive Area & Landscapes Standing Advisory Committee.
Thank you to Greg Tobin of Harwood Andrews representing the Council andJason Pizer QC and Marissa Chorn Counsel for the Minister for Planning.
Also Lawry St Ledger for the Combined Bellarine Community Associations, Richard Weatherly and the Geelong Field Naturalists/Friends of the Ocean Grove Nature Reserve.
PLANT A TREE
Residents can request the council to plant a street tree free of charge. Winter is their planting season, but they have more streets than trees. So hop on the CoGG website to request a tree planting and help grow an urban forest.
As a resident of COGG , you can request a new tree planted at no cost:
· in your nature strip
· to replace a dead or vandalised tree
Trees are planted in winter. Requests outside these seasons will be held until the planting season. Request a tree planting.
NEXT BARWON HEADS ASSOCIATION GENERAL MEETING
7.00PM, MONDAY 20THJUNE 2022 at SENIOR CITIZENS ROOMS CLIFFORD Pde BARWON HEADS
Representatives from Barwon Water will address our next meeting and addressing some of the challenges facing our future water supply on the Bellarine.
WATER – Our challenge Barwon Water “Water for the Future Report”
Our climate is changing; it is getting hotter and drier.
Less rainfall has a direct impact on our region’s water supplies.
A warmer and drier climate also affects our region’s environment – reduced flows down rivers creates stress on our waterways and ecosystems plus longer, drier summers affect liveability.
Demand for water is increasing: we need to find or save up to 5 billion litres of water – over and above the 35 billion litres our region currently uses – every five years for the next 50 years.
This challenge presented an exciting opportunity to rethink where our water comes from and how we use water and design a new water future for our region.
A future that not only ensures enough water comes out of the tap, but also harnesses the value of water to support healthy, sustainable, liveable and prosperous communities now and for years to come.
Following the recent Sewage Pipe failure in Barwon Heads, our speakers will also be discussing the failure and what works have occurred.
PLEASE JOIN US FOR AN EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIVE EVENING !!!!
IF THERE ARE ANY OF YOU WHO ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THE PLANNING PROCESSES MAKE CONTACT WITH US, COME TO THIS MEETING, WE WOULD WELCOME NEW EYES AND BRAINS
Other Barwon Heads News – Here is your link to June Talking Heads.
Printed versions are available at Starfish, Apco, the Post Office, the Bendigo Bank and IGA. Look out for them elsewhere as well.
We are all going to have such a good winter with so much happening in town. Great recipes Trish. Try the Jamu for longevity and fighting winters ills. (Recipe on the back page).