ONE of the driving forces behind last Wednesday’s State Coal Mine crisis meeting, ‘Friends’ group member Sheila Ormerod, believes any impression the community might have been given about progress on the night is an illusion.
Ms Ormerod said the promised meeting between the Friends of the State Coal Mine President, Steve Harrop, and District Manager at Parks Victoria, Victoria Purdue, on Friday, March 31, came to nothing or worse, less than nothing.
“They had the meeting but nothing came out of it,” Ms Ormerod said.
“They don’t think they can go ahead and try to find a lessee for the café because they thing they will be deterred by the fact that the underground mine tours haven’t resumed, that it will affect trade in the café,” Ms Ormerod said.
“But that’s nonsense. Vicki (former lessee) had the café running well for more than two years while the mine tours were sidelined and she still continued on quite well with breakfasts, lunches, special events and catering.
“There’s no reason why they couldn’t put that contract out and have someone take it on.
“As for the resumption of the underground mine tours, they don’t seem to know how to make progress on that.
“We asked them to bring the Drift Car back to Wonthaggi, that we have engineering firms here that will do the work but we’re not sure they want to do it that way.
“They don’t seem to know what they want to do. I don’t think we’ve made much progress on this at all.”
Ms Ormerod praised the 300 people who came out for the public meeting on Wednesday night, and noted that representatives of the Friends, including Steve Harrop, herself and Bass Coast Shire Councillor Cr Brett Tessari, had followed up by also meeting with Eastern Victoria MP Melina Bath, but she feared the group had not made any progress.
“It might be that we’ve got to try and take matters into our own hands,” she said.
Go Fund Me appeal
To that end, another Friend of the State Coal Mine, Louis Maibn, has organised a fundraiser on the crowd funding site, Go Fund Me at https://www.gofundme.com/f/friends-of-the-state-coal-mine-association.
He is calling for $50,000 for the necessary repairs to the mine rolling stock and his message is a simple one:
“Hi guys, as you may or may not know, our State Coal Mine in Wonthaggi (underground tours) is closed at the moment due to a lack of funding, and is in much need of donations to go towards repairs and reopening the mine’s underground tours. It is the only place of its kind within the Southern Hemisphere and would be a big shame to lose it as a tourist destination, for us and future generations not to be able to experience the history that it offers, including the role that it played in shaping our State of Victoria.
“Please get the word out to everyone you know and help get our community together once again to fight for our history and what our town stands for. It is estimated at around three quarters of a million dollars will be needed to get the mine back to OH&S and operational standards, which fingers crossed will include some funding from state level. So any donations are very much appreciated.
“The more we raise and get the word out there, the more we show the government how important the site is to us and the wider community. Donations will go to the Friends of the State Coal Mine Association which is a non-profit volunteer group which works tirelessly to present the mine at its best all year round and to maintain the site with countless hours every year of volunteer labour. Your donations will help in stepping forward towards reopening.”