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Plea for Strzelecki forests |
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FEARING that the signing of a new agreement between the Brumby
Government and Hancocks Victorian Plantations signifies the battle has
reached crisis point, conservationists fighting to preserve the
ecological integrity of the Cores and Links area of the Strzelecki
forests were nevertheless buoyed by the large turn-out to a tour of the
area they organised last Sunday.
“This is the last gasp for these forests,” Susie Zent of Friends of
Gippsland Bush Inc. told the approximately one hundred people who
assembled at the Martin Walker Reserve in Yinnar South, from where Ms
Zent, along with Anthony Amis of Friends of the Earth, led a convoy of
vehicles through the eastern section of the Cores and Links, finishing
near Tarra Bulga National Park at Balook.
Mr Amis said he had arranged Sunday’s tour in the hope that local
residents and the wider community would come away with a better
understanding of the threat to the Strzelecki forests.
For 12 years local conservationists have monitored logging in the
Strzelecki forests, which the Kennett government in the 1990s handed
over to private management under a long-term lease arrangement. The
conservationists have campaigned for an approximately 8000ha Strzelecki
rainforest reserve to link the existing reserves of Gunyah Gunyah
Rainforest Reserve in the west and Tarra Bulga National Park in the
east. These ‘Cores and Links’ were identified by independent consultancy
Biosis in a 2001 report as containing the highest value conservation
sites in the Strzeleckis, including ‘core’ rare temperate rainforest and
native vegetation ‘links’ from one reserve to the other.
Mr Amis described the decision by the Minister for Environment and
Climate Change Gavin Jennings, announced on May 30, to sign an agreement
with Hancocks Victorian Plantations (HVP) allowing a one-off harvest of
1500 hectares of the Cores and Links area as “a disastrous policy
change”.
“The decision to clearfell these rainforest sites is a very poor one. It
appears to us that the Minister is more interested in the economic
profits of Hancock and Australian Paper than safeguarding the Gippsland
environment,” said Mr Amis.
“The decision is very bad for the Strzelecki rainforest, as it allows
for 1500 ha to be clearfelled from within the Cores and Links reserve.
Areas of national conservation significance such as College Creek are
now offered no protection.”
The organisers of Sunday’s tour contrasted the beauty of the old growth
rainforest with the areas which have already been logged and left bare
or replanted with blue gums or other plantation species. HVP management
had requested that the tour not trespass onto any land which they were
in the process of logging, but the impact of their destruction of the
trees was still very much in evidence, most notably from several vantage
points along the road, when the convoy stopped to look across the
valleys.
The latest agreement on the Cores and Links supersedes the non-legally
binding Heads of Agreement signed between the State Government, HVP,
Australia Paper, Trust for Nature and members of the local community in
2006.
Mr Jennings has admitted that the previous agreement would have seen a
sizeable amount of plantation within the Cores and Links offered
immediate protection but explained that in order for HVP to fulfill its
contractual commitments it needed to harvest 460,000 cubic metres of
timber from native forests on the HVP estate, and after 12 months of
negotiations HVP and the local community were unable to reach a mutually
acceptable outcome.
“Once it became clear that a final sign-off on the Heads of Agreement
would not be reached, it was incumbent upon the Government to try and
secure the greatest level of protection possible in the Strzelecki
Ranges,” Mr Jennings said.
He said that, as with the Heads of Agreement, Trust for Nature would be
asked to manage the Cores and Links reserve.
“I don’t know why Trust for Nature would want to manage a carcass,” was
Mr Amis’s bitter response.
Ms Zent said she feared it would not be long before the clearfelling of
the Cores and Links began, probably as soon as the forest dried out
sufficiently.
Time was, she said, of the essence in the battle to conserve these
nationally significant rainforests.
“We will probably be calling another meeting and then if the bulldozers
move in we might get the community to try and stop them. They have been
converting our old growth forests into pulp for sixty years and it is
time it stopped. Gippslanders are sick and tired of being used as a
resource for the rest of Victoria and not getting anything back in
return.”
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| Water restrictions to be
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NEW model by-laws standardising water restrictions across Victoria have
been approved by the Minister for Water, Tim Holding.
South Gippsland Water customers will see a number of changes from
previous by-laws, with Stage 4 being more severe on home gardens than
were the previous by-laws. At lower levels concepts like alternate
watering days based on street numbers are being introduced.
There are also more specific restrictions for various industries, such
as poultry farms, using water for cooling of stock, and commercial car
washes restricted to 70 litres per vehicle when on Stage 3 restrictions.
The history of the new by-laws goes back two years, when the Victorian
Water Industry Association formed a working group to encourage
uniformity in water restriction by-laws around the state.
At the time there were many different versions of the by-laws, some with
four, six or eight levels of restriction.
This created confusion amongst customers when they moved from one
corporation’s area of responsibility to another and when restriction
levels were reported in the media.
After an exhaustive consultation process, a set of by-laws was agreed on
by the water corporations and submitted to the Minister for Water for
approval.
Part of the model by-law process is centralised consultation with user
groups, customer advocates and peak bodies of various industries who may
be directly affected by restrictions. This consultation was successfully
completed and the model by-laws were approved by the Minister on May 29
of this year.
The model by-laws include the Permanent Water Saving Rules, which are in
force whenever there are no staged restrictions, and the requirement for
Water Maps [management action plans] from businesses using more than
10ML per year.
The restrictions aim to create approximate annual water savings, when in
force, as follows:
Stage 1 - 2.5%;
Stage 2 - 8%;
Stage 3 - 12%;
Stage 4 - 17.5%.
In critical months such as February, Stage 4 restrictions may reduce
demand by up to 36%. However, the effects will vary between different
regions and towns.
The restrictions will be explained in detail later this year as it
becomes necessary to bring staged water restrictions into force across
South Gippsland. |
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Public transport
on the move |
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STEPS are being taken to improve the state of public transport in South
Gippsland, one of the first being a series of Transport Access meetings
conducted last week by the South Gippsland Transport Connections Project in
Foster, Leongatha and Korumburra.
These public meetings were welcomed as an opportunity to gain awareness of
the transport services currently available and to make suggestions as to
ways they can be improved.
Transport Connections Coordinator Fred Boreham was pleased to welcome nearly
50 members of the public into the meeting room at the Foster War Memorial
Arts Centre last Tuesday. Eighteen of these people had taken advantage of
the specially run buses from outlying areas to attend the forum, and most of
the attendees stayed until early afternoon to enjoy the soup and sandwich
luncheon provided by the Foster Primary School Parents’ Group.
More than 100 people attended a similar forum at Leongatha the next day, but
the forum at Korumburra attracted only about 20 people.
Shirley Westaway of Foster was among those who gathered at the Foster
meeting.
“It was an informative and well-run meeting, a good opportunity to hear what
services are available, have some questions answered and suggest ways the
service could be improved,” she said.
An update of the booklet ‘Public Transport Services in South Gippsland’ was
launched at the meetings. The booklet includes details of the V/Line
services between South Gippsland and Melbourne, although these were not the
subject of last week’s meetings. The Department of Transport will be
addressing improvements in the V/Line services later in the year.
The booklet also includes details of the Thursday bus service between Foster
and Leongatha, for which Moon’s Bus Lines has the contract, and of which a
number of people at the Foster meeting were apparently unaware. News to some
people, too, was the new service, also run by Moon’s, between Foster, Fish
Creek and Wilsons Promontory on Friday evenings, Sunday afternoons and
Monday public holidays.
The booklet also contains details of coach hire, taxi services and community
transport.
COMMUNITY TRANSPORT
Bernadette Hulls, Community Transport Coordinator at South Gippsland Shire
(tel. 5662 9359), outlined the transport services provided by the shire for
Home and Community Care (HACC) clients and explained that it was a
relatively simple matter to be assessed for HACC services – the full range
or only one or two such as transport.
The shire has four cars available, with each taking four passengers plus the
driver. Two cars are based in Leongatha, one in Korumburra and one in
Foster. Transport is available for HACC clients who have no means of
transport, are residents of South Gippsland Shire and for access to medical
appointments in Gippsland and Melbourne.
The shire also has three buses, each seating ten passengers plus the driver.
One bus is based in Foster, one in Leongatha and one in Tarwin Lower. The
buses are available for HACC clients who have no means of transport, are
residents of the shire and for access to local activities.
The Foster Red Cross car is available for travel to urgent medical treatment
in Gippsland and Melbourne. A referral from a health professional is
required and travellers must meet the Red Cross criteria. For further
information contact the Red Cross Transport Coordinator in Foster, Tracie
Worboys, tel. 5682 2424.
Michael Mihaly, Community Adviser with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs,
addressed the meetings, too, outlining the entitlements of people eligible
for veterans’ services. These include access to a booked car with driver for
medical appointments and reimbursement for people who drive the holders of
gold or white veterans’ cards to medical appointments. Mr Mihaly can be
contacted for further information at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in
Morwell, tel. 5133 0177.
OUTSTANDING TRANSPORT NEEDS
After the current services were outlined to them, those attending the
meetings were then invited to take part in a community workshop in which
they answered the questions:
In the past 12 months what three main modes of transport have you used?
Next to each mode of transport, write your main use for this transport;
Why do you use this current form of transport?
Have you used any form of public transport in the last two years and if not
why not?
If you currently use public transport, where are your three main
destinations you travel to?
What are the main changes that could be made to public forms of transport
for you to use them more?
List the regular places in South Gippsland where you need to travel to if
transport was available and/or efficient to use.
When would you use the service if it was available?
Mr Boreham said there was a good exchange of information at the meetings.
He is still collating the responses collected at the meetings, but a general
picture should emerge shortly.
Some of the issues he has already picked up are:
the V/Line service is too Melbourne-centric and people would like more
services than just that and the Thursday bus between Foster and Leongatha;
it can be difficult for people to get to bus stops other than by driving
themselves and once they have done that they often feel they may as well
continue in their cars;
alternative means of transport to buses such as taxis can be difficult to
afford;
there is a lack of flexibility between the state and federal government
departments which provide assistance (HACC or Veterans’ Affairs);
and there is a need for intra-town services so that people can visit their
loved ones in hospitals and nursing homes.
“Once the results are collated we will determine what the main issues are
and the priorities for action,” said Mr Boreham.
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Mitigation
for Turtons
Creek logging track |
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SOUTH Gippsland Shire officers are working with staff of Hancocks
Victorian Plantations (HVP) to ensure the stability of land in the
vicinity of logging track work at Turtons Creek.
Local resident Ron Brown, who had expressed some concern about the
impact of the logging work, has also met with HVP staff at the site and
is now more hopeful that any damage caused by the track work will be
mitigated by HVP and this will be monitored by Council.
Mr Brown recently met two senior HVP employees, at their suggestion, at
the top of Central Road, Turtons Creek, so that they could explain the
detail of their imminent logging program.
“They insisted that the major track that I had complained about was
pre-existing and they had merely cleared it for current use. I did not
argue the point,” said Mr Brown. “They admitted that greater
consultation would have been desirable and that roadside trees were
removed to gain access to the track work. They will consult in future.”
At Mr Brown’s suggestion that there were an inordinate number of tracks,
the HVP men explained that to gain access to their plantations in such
tortuously steep country, with watercourses and gullies, such intrusions
were necessary.
“HVP promised to leave a thick barrier alongside Central Road. They also
agreed that much of the vegetation was indeed regrowth from the 1939
bushfires, as I had stated. The plantations are mainly behind the native
trees and their aim is to secure this resource,” Mr Brown said.
He said he was pleased that the HVP representatives had promised to
consult with him again to explain in more detail the trees to be removed
and any alterations to track work.
“They examined the sharp bend where a truck nearly went over and had to
shed its load of logs to escape disaster. Consultation with the shire
and further road roadwork will be required. I will keep my fingers
crossed and hope for the best,” he added.
Mr Brown spoke briefly at the last Ordinary Council Meeting on June 18,
where all Councillors with the exception of Cr Bob Newton passed the
motion “that officers continue implementing the mitigation process to
ensure the stability of the embankment located at the Central Road,
Grand Ridge Road intersections, Turtons Creek”. Cr Newton said he could
not support the motion because he had inspected the land in question and
considered it so steep as to have made it almost impossible to have put
any other sort of track in.
By contrast, Cr Nigel Hutchinson-Brooks said it was important that
monitoring of the restitution work took place.
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| Managing our cats
and dogs |
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UNOWNED cats and defecating dogs – residents will have the opportunity to
comment on contentious issues such as these with the release this week of
the draft Domestic Animal Management Plan.
South Gippsland Shire Council will discuss the plan in its Ordinary Meeting
at Toora this afternoon (July 2) and it is expected to go on public
exhibition for six weeks from Friday, July 4.
The preparation of a Domestic Animal Management Plan is a new state
government requirement. A template recommended by the Department of Primary
Industries and widely used by other councils prescribes the specific
contents of the plan but councils can tailor-make the plans with input from
their residents.
They could, for instance, recommend the leashing of dogs in designated areas
of the shire – this would be one solution to the problem of wandering dogs
which is aggravating at least a few residents (see letter in this week’s
Mirror, page 3).
Local Laws Coordinator Ian Nicholas recently briefed Council on the plan.
He said that the issue of mandatory sterilisation and programs to address
unowned cats will form a major part of the draft plan.
Mr Nicholas said that there were pros and cons regarding mandatory
sterilisation. Among the points to consider are that some of the councils
which have brought it in have concerns about how it is policed and the
Australian Veterinary Association is against sterilisation.
“The big issue is that it is not the animals that are registered that are
the problem. Ninety per cent of registered cats are sterilised. Unowned –
feral – cats are the problem. For this reason we are trying to increase
registration rates.”
Mr Nicholas said that the registration rate for cats was very low, as can be
seen by the fact that BIS Shrapnel estimated in 1998 that 26 per cent of
households in Victoria owned one or more cats, at a rate of 1.47
cats/household, which would equate for South Gippsland Shire Council with
13,654 residential dwellings having 5,218 cats – but only 1163 cats are
registered.
The barking of dogs is another issue which the plan will deal with, although
it is, said Mr Nicholas, a difficult issue because there are widely
disparate views of noise within the community. He suggested better
communication between neighbours as a first step towards alleviating the
problem of barking dogs.
“Complaints about barking dogs are not particularly high, but this issue is
very challenging for council officers. Future consideration of appropriate
enforcement procedures could assist all parties in better management of this
issue,” he said.
After the draft Domestic Animal Management Plan is presented to Council
today it is proposed that it go on exhibition for six weeks until August 15,
during which time members of the public are invited to put in submissions. A
briefing on the issues raised in submissions is scheduled for September 3,
with a view to presenting the final report to Council seeking adoption of
the plan on September 17. Under State Government legislation, the plan must
be adopted by Council prior to November 2008.
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| Police News |
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THEFT FROM PROMVIEW
NURSERY
POLICE are investigating a theft at Promview Nursery in Fish Creek.
The theft occurred overnight last Wednesday, June 25. It is uncertain how
access was gained to the shop, but approximately $1500 of goods were stolen,
including binoculars, boat flares and cash. |
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| Top four look safe |
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• AFL PREVIEW
The top four sides in the seniors - Wonthaggi, Korumburra-Bena, Tarwin and
Yarram all look safe after 11 rounds, but there is still plenty of interest
in who will finish fifth and sixth on the ladder at season’s end.
The top two sides meet this week with Korumburra-Bena surprising a lot of
teams this year to have only lost two matches. One was last week against
Yarram and they will find Wonthaggi very difficult this Saturday.
The Power are clearly the top side in the competition, and the young
Bulldogs will find this out this week. While they might be competitive
early, the Wonthaggi juganaut will keep on advancing and make it twelve wins
on the trot, and see Korumburra-Bena’s hold on second place become in
jeopardy.
Stony Creek with five wins will welcome Foster.
The Creek produced a surprise victory last week against Phillip Island,
while the young Tigers were out gunned by a bigger and stronger Dalyston.
If the Tigers can put four quarters together instead of three, then they
might give the Lions a real fright at home.
The Mirror tips the Creek to win narrowly with the home ground advantage
giving them the edge.
Dalyston will welcome Tarwin this week in a very even contest.
Both these sides are playing well, with Tarwin’s pace and run on game
flowing well, and Dalyston’s fierce attack on the ball a real factor in
their hard nose game.
It’s an important game for both sides, with the Sharks seeming to have a few
more class players, around the ground than the Magpies which will give them
a slight advantage.
Yarram are home to Phillip Island.
The Islanders don’t travel well and it’s the longest road trip of the season
for them.
The Demons showed last week that they are one of the top sides with a
convincing win over Korumburra-Bena, and on that form they will start
favourites in this match.
Fish Creek will welcome Kilcunda Bass.
The Kangas (five wins) still give themselves a chance of making the top six,
so a win this week is a must for them.
Kilcunda Bass have also won five games so this match looks a fairly even
contest.
The Creek have done well against the lower teams in the competition, but
have struggled against any team with a bit of talent. Saturday will be a
fairly hard game for them, so it will be a good indication as to where they
really are.
The Mirror tips them to win narrowly, seeing they are playing at home.
Toora are home to the Allies.
Although the Allies are trying hard, they won’t worry the Maggies too much
and the home side will win well.
On Sunday it is the VCFL game of the month between Inverloch-Kongwak and MDU.
The home side got a reality check last week against Wonthaggi, but will find
this week’s clash much easier and they should take the points.
The Sea Eagles have suffered through injuries in recent weeks and they need
to be at full strength if they are to mix it with the top teams.
MDU will give it their best shot, but they are a number of key players short
to trouble the top sides.
IK will win this match comfortably.
SELECTIONS
Stony Creek v. Foster.
Yarram v. PI.
Dalyston v. Tarwin.
Kor.-Bena v. Wonthaggi.
Fish Creek v. Killy Bass.
Toora v. Allies.
IK v. MDU (Sunday)
ROUND 13
Foster v. Yarram.
Tarwin v. Stony Creek.
Phillip Island v. Kor.-Bena.
Dalyston v. Fish Creek.
Killy Bass v. Toora.
MDU v. Wonthaggi.
Allies v. IK. |
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