Time to sack Bass Coast councillors

 The views of Grantville residents and regional sand extraction operators were detailed to Bass

Coast councillors and senior shire officers at a meeting today, just two days after a Directions Hearing on Bass Coast councillors’ refusal to allow clearing to facilitate the sealing of Stanley Road.

All sand extraction in the region must comply with the Regional Sand Extraction Strategy Lang Lang to Grantville, gazetted by the Victorian Government in 1995. The strategy requires community and Council participation in an Environmental Review Committee, The committee was supposed to be funded by the State government but since 2019 the Grantville Quarries Reference Group has been self-managed, with an Independent Chair and administrative assistant, fully funded by the participating quarry operators.

Anne Westwood lives in Stanley Road, Grantville and is a community representative on the reference group. She was the convenor and principal researcher for Grantville Action Group which drove the campaign to prepare a landscape-scale regional strategy rather than continue problems with ad hoc planning decisions. At the time, the community action was supported by South Gippsland Conservation Society and the Shire Council.


A Short background of the sand extraction saga

The small township of Grantville played a major role in improving operating conditions on sand extraction sites and long term environmental outcomes once sand pits closed. Grantville residents, led by Anne Westwood, formed Grantville Action Group once the community became aware of the extent of sand extraction proposals in the area.

Companies had pegged out flora and fauna reserves for extractive industry leases.The fight was on to ensure the long term sustainability of native vegetation,,wildlife habitat and the region’s scenic values. Grantville Action Group (GAG) Inc was established in 1994.

Following a submission by GAG to the Minister for Planning a sand extraction strategy plan was prepared by a working group under the auspices of the Minister. But Councillors have ignored the community and their own planning officers in pursuit of their hidden agenda. Councillors failed to recognised that the strategy provided tools enabling them to make planning decisions to protect native bushland from extraction within the interest area.

The Strategy’s stated purpose is to

  • “enable appropriate areas of the sand resources to be extracted in a manner which protects significant environmental, economic and social values of the area”.

After many surveys, negotiations, meetings and research, the “Regional Sand Extraction Strategy Lang Lang to Grantville” was gazetted in the Victorian Parliament, endorsed by multiple Ministers. A Ministerial Directive was issued by the Minister for Planning that it be incorporated into the relevant Planning Schemes.

Unfortunately, some members of the community have no understanding about the importance of the regional strategy and have been pushing their own agendas without any factual basis. Bass Coast Shire Councillors have refused Government directives to implement the Strategy.

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