Star campaign helps secure beach funds 

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Star campaign helps secure beach funds 

CONCERNED LOCAL: Tina Nelson of Inverloch is worried erosion at Inverloch will impact tourism and the town’s surf lifesaving club. Below, The Star launches its Save Our Shores campaign on May 21.

Matt Dunn

 

THE Star’s call for action on the dramatic collapse of Inverloch beach has been heeded, with $1.15 million in emergency funds from the State Government.

The money will be used to save the town’s surf club and help arrest erosion on the beach, which is now also threatening nearby Bunurong Road.

Making the announcement in Inverloch last week, local resident and Bass MLA Jordan Crugnale said the funding was “fantastic news for the Inverloch community and visitors to our region”. 

The money comes on the back of a Federal Government commitment of $1.5 million in coastal erosion mitigation funding for the Bass Coast Shire, a fair portion of which will go to Inverloch.

Ms Crugnale said $700,000 of the State Government’s funding would be used toward the pilot development of a Regional and Strategic Partnership (RaSP) under the new Marine and Coastal Act 2018, which will work together with the community during the next two years on short-term projects.

Agencies collaborating to form the RaSP include the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Bass Coast Shire Council, Parks Victoria, Regional Roads Victoria, Gippsland Ports, and the Bunurong Land Council.

A further $450,000 will go toward the installation of a geotextile sandbag wall to help protect the Inverloch surf club.

“The funding for emergency works and a pilot RaSP comes after a long advocacy campaign and we are pleased to be building and extending the collaborative work already underway. We cannot do this alone,” Ms Crugnale said.

“A long-term strategic approach must be taken to protect the social, environmental and economic values of our coastline and foreshores.”

Aside from the surf club, adjacent Bunurong Road is also under threat.

Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio said the State Government was “preparing the Victorian coast for the climate challenges it’s facing through research, policy change and on ground action”.  

“We know how important the coast is to the Inverloch community and we want to help ensure they can enjoy it for many years to come,” she said. 

Despite some community fears federal funding could fall through, Monash MP Russell Broadbent said his election pledge of $1.5 million still stood.

“During the election campaign I was proud to have been able to secure $1.5 million in Federal Government funding towards the Bass Coast Shire Council’s coastal erosion mitigation project on the re-election of a Morrison Government,” he said.

“The Bass Coast Shire Council is now in the process of completing an application to the Federal Government’s Environment Restoration Fund which formalises this process in receiving the Federal Government funding.

“I look forward to seeing the mitigation works progress with the financial assistance of the Federal Government that I was able to secure.”

 

 

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Posted by on Oct 22 2019. Filed under Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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