Say no to ‘protected settlement boundaries’

DAY to day, most people don’t give much thought to what the government or the local shire council is doing, provided they get on with it.

Finding a good job, getting the business running well, seeing what the kids are up to, checking on mum’s health, the cost of living, when you’ll get a holiday and how your footy team is going… that’s what takes up most of our time.

And on that score, “Happy Mother’s Day” to all the mums.

From time to time, though, we do take an interest, like when the Federal Government reveals a lack of preparedness in defence, a lack of action on the housing crisis, and, at a state level, a lack of action on such things as Inverloch’s erosion problems.

Now is one of those times when we should take an interest in what’s going on in the Bass Coast Shire where the State Government is trying to take over high-level strategic control of the shire’s 25 settlements; excluding Inverloch and Wonthaggi at this stage, but including San Remo, Cowes, Kilcunda, Newhaven and Grantville, right down to Coronet Bay, Rhyll, Tenby Point and Smiths Beach.

Some of those settlements, including Smiths Beach, Ventnor, Dalyston and Cape Woolamai probably need the ‘Protected Settlement Boundary’ control that the government’s Department of Transport and Planning is proposing to introduce soon.

But the plan to lock out further expansion, for the next 50 years, under controls that will require an act of both houses of State Parliament to alter is a massive overkill of the first order.

And to do so, without detailed, individual assessment of the impact on each settlement, not to mention the municipality as a whole, is as reckless as it is stupid.

If you stop sprawl at Cowes and Inverloch, will high-rise and ridiculous land prices be the result? What will it do to the construction sector?

What about when land for housing runs out in 10 years, or we need “employment land” for new business investment?

Not that the shire is blameless in leaving us exposed to this threat by giving more emphasis, including in its latest budget, to the climate change emergency and social engineering, rather than the nuts and bolts of their statutory responsibilities, including staying ahead of its strategic planning tasks and protecting Inverloch’s neighbourhood character.

The other thing the Bass Coast Shire Council is not doing is being part of our community; understanding us, engaging with us, keeping us genuinely informed (rather than managed), and getting involved.

They could start by encouraging individual councillors and senior staff members to talk to the people.

And when a crisis like the one identified at the DAL hearings last week does hit us, the community is already on board, prepared to provide some political heat where necessary.