Erosion petition heading for Parliament

By Nick Sinis

SOUTH Gippsland Conservation Society (SGCS) presented its petition, calling for urgent funding to combat coastal erosion at Inverloch, to Member for Bass Jordan Crugnale last week.

It follows SGCS’ successful ‘Rally Round Our Dunes’, which was held at Inverloch.

SGCS is calling on all levels of government to protect the remaining dunes and implement immediate dune nourishment works at Surf Beach, as well as Wreck Creek and Flat Rocks.

The group handed its petition, which has received almost 500 signatures, to Ms Crugnale at the Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club last Wednesday, who is now expected to present it in Parliament this week to the relevant Minister.

SGCS also launched its rally video, which featured incredible angles of Inverloch’s coastline filmed by drones and showed the sheer number of attendees on the day.

Speaking at last week’s event, SGCS’ Philip Heath said they were immensely pleased with the turnout for the rally, and believed a strong message was sent to the government.

“The society acknowledges the funding that the government has allocated to Inverloch Surf Beach, both for ongoing protection works and important studies on the way for the Cape to Cape Resilience Project,” he said.

“But to date, the ongoing works only protect about 9 per cent of Inverloch Surf Beach… so there’s a remaining 91 per cent which is unprotected and disappearing.

“At the current rate, if recession continues, we’ve only got around four years of dunes left. So, we believe there is a need for short-term works to hold the line, particularly the most at-risk locations, like Wreck Creek and Flat Rocks, until the time comes when we can actually implement the Cape to Cape Resilience recommendations.”

Ms Crugnale highlighted she had asked the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio, in Victorian Parliament recently for an update on progress through the Inverloch Regional and Strategic Partnership (RaSP), and any short-term measures planned.

She added a workshop would be taking place this month with the project’s stakeholder reference group where modelling data, hazard maps, assessments and adaptations will be presented.

“I do hear the call for something urgent to be done at Wreck Creek, and Parks Victoria will be undertaking sand nourishments before Easter this year,” she said.

“It’s a buffer for the Easter tides, but what we can do in the short-term might have a long-term impact.

Ms Crugnale added she would present SGCS’ letter and petition in Parliament this week.

As the petition was handed over to Bass MP Jordan Crugnale, a community member asked if the $3m state government funding announced for the Wonthaggi-Inverloch Shared Pathway could be reallocated for the erosion project. While Ms Crugnale appreciated the question, acknowledging erosion would also impact the Yallock-Bulluk trail, she said it would be up to the relevant Ministers.