Fight against sand mine continues

BASS Highway has been inundated with cleverly crafted signs by Save Western Port Woodlands (SWPW) to highlight sand mining along the forest corridor.

Dozens of hand-painted signs have been strategically placed along the highway, designed to alert travellers flocking to the region on sand mining and its impact on remnant woodlands.

SWPW’s Catherine Watson said the group first erected the signage on Boxing Day, but many mysteriously disappeared overnight.

“It was a fantastic opportunity to reach the Melbourne travellers,” Ms Watson said.

“But some were removed very quickly, which shows us someone doesn’t want our message to be known.

“We had a really good workshop making the signs, and many people were completely unaware there are sand mines all along the forest corridor.”

Ms Watson said it took the group almost four hours to place the signs and vowed they would keep replacing them even if they’re torn down each day.

“We gained a huge amount of support through this,” she said.

“One of the things we wanted to do is raise awareness of the existence of woodlands and a lot of people don’t even know they can go there.

“They’re (woodlands) not displayed well and that’s something we’ll be working on in the year ahead, to get better signage and people walking through the woodlands.”

For more information on the organisation, visit savewesternportwoodlands.org.