Wall-to-wall support for Drysdale mural!

Local groups and organisations are keen to participate in designing and creating a glass mosaic mural for the arcade in Drysdale High Street.

Specific Glass Mosaic, India

The Drysdale, Clifton Springs, Curlewis Association (DCSCA) and its Festival of Glass sub-committee have invited local groups and organisations to join in designing and creating the mural and organisations as diverse as the Bellarine Catchment Network,  the Bellarine Agricultural Society, Bellarine Woodworkers, Drysdale RSL, the Geelong Steam Preservation Society and the Rotary Club of Drysdale have said that they'd like to participate.

DCSCA has received almost $11,000 from the federal government’s Stronger Communities Programme to design and create the mural.

Entitled “Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow”, the mural will depict the past, present and possible futures of the northern Bellarine Peninsula, celebrating the local community to itself and to the area’s many visitors.

 

Treasure Hunt launch booked out!

A High Tea at Café Zoo in Drysdale on Monday 7 January will launch the 2019 Festival of Glass Treasure Hunt.

The High Tea was booked out two weeks in advance and, not surprisingly, owner Marc Rodway is delighted. “It will be a great start to this year’s Festival of Glass and to its Treasure Hunt”, he said.

High Tea guests can watch local glass artist Glenda MacNaughton blowing and sculpting glass and browse the “Birds of the Bellarine” glass art exhibition that runs until March.

Thirty three businesses in Curlewis, Drysdale, Clifton Springs and Portarlington are involved in the Treasure Hunt, which has over a hundred prizes of locally-made glass art.

 

DCSCA attends Centenary Armistic Day ceremony

The Drysdale, Clifton Springs & Curlewis Association (DCSCA) was invited to be among the wreath-layers at the Centenary Armistice Day ceremony at the Drysdale cenotaph on Sunday 11 November.

The ceremony was organised and run by the Drysdale sub-branch of the Returned Services League (RSL) and between them, sub-branch President Geoff Zanker and Secretary Bob Brown ran a tight ship that enabled those present to observe a minute's silence at 11.00am.

In an especially poignant part of the ceremony, to the soft chiming of a gong, Bob Brown read out the name of each local person who had died, while local primary school children walked forward carrying a photograph of the person or, if none was available, a photo of the badge of their regiment.

DCSCA President Mercedes Drummond joined representatives from local service clubs and associations in laying a wreath to commemorate those who have lost their lives in Australia's armed forces, while around 150 people looked on. This memorial ceremony is held annually, but it has special significance this year, as November 11 2018 is one hundred years to the day since the Armistice was signed that ended World War 1.

Election Q & A in Drysdale

Candidates for the seat of Bellarine in the forthcoming state election faced questions from

around forty north Bellarine voters at a Candidates Forum in Drysdale at 10.00am on 10 November.

The Drysdale, Clifton Springs and Curlewis Community Association (DCSCA) organised and ran the Forum at SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre, 17 - 21 High Street, Drysdale.

Four candidates accepted DCSCA’s invitation to attend: Naomi Adam (Animal Justice Party); Brian McKiterick (Liberal Party); Lisa Neville MP (Labour Party); and Rachel Semmens (Greens).

(Gayle Tierney, member for Western Victoria in Victoria’s upper house, stood in for Lisa Neville who - as Minister for Police - was in Melbourne dealing with a terrorist incident there the previous day.)

From local roads to One Belt, One Road!

Each candidate was given 5 minutes to argue why they should be elected to the seat; each then answered three questions that DCSCA had sent to them beforehand; then audience members were invited to ask their questions.

A wide range of topics was addressed. Some were explicitly about the north Bellarine: a new swimming pool, an offshore sculpture/reef, traffic management and a long-term plan for the area to address what most speakers argued is its over-development.

Other topics were of broader interest: the future of the TAFE system; crime, punishment an prevention; and the Memorandum of Understanding signed recently by the Victoria state government and the Chinese government concerning the latter’s “One Belt, One Road” policy. The event finished at 11.30am.

The Drysdale Forum was the third of four such events being run across the Bellarine Peninsula by the Combined Bellarine Community Associations (CBCA), of which DCSCA is a member.

Drysdale Bypass update at public meeting

Andrew Westcot, Team Leader of the Vic Roads Drysdale Bypass project, will be the guest speaker at a public meeting in Drysdale at 7.00pm on Wednesday 19 October 2016.

Andrew will give an update on the Team's work so far and answer general questions about the Drysdale Bypass project.

The occasion is the 2016 Annual General Meeting of the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA). It will happen at SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre, 17-21 High Street, Drysdale 3222.

DCSCA Secretary Patrick Hughes said, “Vic Roads has worked hard to keep the local community informed about its work on the Bypass. We appreciate that and we're looking forward to Andrew’s update.”

The mural's unveiled!

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A glass and ceramic mural saying, "Welcome to Drysdale" was unveiled officially today on the outer wall of the Senior Citizens Club, from where it is visible across Drysdale's village green.

L to R: Tess Grace, Mercedes Drummond, Uncle David Tournier, Kaye Clancy, Sue Van Everey, Doug Carson

The unveiling ceremony started with a "Welcome to Country" by Uncle David Tournier, from the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-op, who has been an advisor to the mural project.

Mercedes Drummond, from the Festival of Glass committee, then told the story of the mural's creation; and Sue Van Everey, President of the Rotary Club of Drysdale, led the official unveiling.

The glass and ceramic mural is an initiative of the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association and its Festival of Glass sub-committee.

Festival convenor Doug Carson said, "The mural is the latest link in the area's long association with glass and we're very grateful to all the local people and organisations that have made it happen. We're grateful especially to the Rotary Club of Drysdale, the Bendigo Bank and Drysdale's Hello World travel agency for their financial support."

The "Welcome to Drysdale" mural unveiled!

Worth waiting for!

Festival of Glass members Mercedes Drummond and Doug Carson ran the mural project, which started in December 2013, when Bellarine Secondary College Students - led by their teacher Tess Grace and local ceramic artist Kaye Clancy - created a collection of ceramic tiles. Each tile depicts a moment in the area's past or present and the whole collection forms the mural's border.

Inside the border, at the mural's centre, is a a single large piece of 'slumped glass' saying "Welcome to Drysdale", which was made by Geelong's Wathaurong Glass Company.

L to R: Tess Grace, Uncle David Tournier, Mercedes Drummond, Kaye Clancy, Sue Van Everey.

DCSCA drafts a strategy for landfill advisory group

DCSCA is a member of a Community Consultation Group created by the City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) to advise it on the management of the Drysdale Landfill site (aka 'the tip'!).

CoGG launched the group at a public meeting in Drysdale on 7 June 2016 and DCSCA intends to be an active member. To that end, it has drafted a Waste Management Strategy, which it intends to present at the Group's next meeting in August.
DCSCA's draft strategy follows.

1.      Aims

Operations at the Drysdale Landfill site should accord with the Barwon Region Waste Management Plan, which should aim to provide the Barwon Region with a best practice Waste Management Plan meeting community expectations; and to promote sustainable built and natural environments.

The Barwon Region Waste Management Plan should meet its aims through four inter-related strategies: minimise the waste dumped at landfill sites; minimise the cost and maximise the convenience of dumping waste at landfill sites; minimise the social, environmental and health-related dangers of illegal dumping of waste; recycle as much as possible of the waste dumped at landfill sites.

Each of those four strategies should have a measurable target and success in meeting each target should be published each year, to promote continuous improvement. E.g.: 70% of customers ‘Satisfied’ or ‘Very Satisfied’ with waste disposal in the region; 10% of litter, odour and run-off from the site.

DCSCA Questions. 1. Does the Barwon Region Waste Management Plan and the Drysdale Landfill site each have its own Objectives Statement? If so .... 2. Can the Consultative Group propose amendments to either Objectives Statement?

2.      Specific objectives

Operations at the Drysdale Landfill site should meet the following objectives:

2.1 Reduce waste. Set annual targets and publishing the results. E. g. phase out single use plastic bottles and plastic bags; teach people a) to reduce the waste they generate and b) to dispose of it selectively into the yellow, green and purple bins; encourage manufacturers a) to reduce their packaging and b) to make their products more easily disposable.

2.2 Re-use waste. Set annual targets and publish the results. E. g. increase the efficiency of material separation and recycling at recycling and waste disposal centres; create a clean site for waste disposal within a 20 mt. drive of each resident of the Barwon Region.

2.3 Recycle waste. Set annual targets and publish the results. E. g. encourage shops to have bins for returning packaging (e.g. bottles, boxes) to manufacturers. Institute an annual award for best performing shop; encourage manufacturers to use the trucks that collect and deliver their goods to shops to carry returned packaging (especially packaging that combines plastic, cardboard and foam) on their return journeys. Institute an annual award for best performing manufacturer. (The manufacturers create the waste, councils and private recycling companies shouldn’t have to clear it up.)

2.4 Generate income from waste to offset costs. Set annual targets and publish the results. E. g. recover precious metals from computers and mobile phones and sell as ‘raw materials’ to local industry to promote the local economy; separate metal, plastic, rubber, paper/cardboard (others?) and sell as 'raw materials' to local industry to promote the local economy; generate power with gases 'harvested' from waste and through high temperature incineration of toxic material; generate wood chips and mulch from 'green waste' and sell to the public.
2.5 Treat waste more efficiently and effectively. Set annual targets and publish the results.

2.6 Dispose of waste more efficiently and effectively. Set annual targets and publish the results. E.g. make disposal easier through providing bins dedicated to product types (e.g., batteries, scrap metal, computers/phones, furniture, beds & bedding); dispose of asbestos separately from general waste; seal it in non-permeable material and burry it in marked sites, to minimise health risks. (At present, asbestos waste is mixed-in with general waste at the tip face.); dispose of paint, chemicals, etc. separately from general waste, to minimise a) health risks and b) illegal dumping.

2.7 Work towards ‘Zero Waste’. Publish progress each year.

DCSCA Questions. 1. What can be done to reduce the cost of a trip to the tip? Illegal dumping is increasing in the Barwon Region, largely due to the high cost and difficulty of a trip to the tip. This could entail a 2 hour round trip, an outlay of over $60, a difficult reversing manoeuver with a trailer and unloading potentially hazardous objects from a trailer. It could also result in a muddy car and trailer.

2. Why is there a charge to dump green waste? Other councils make no charge for green waste. Why does CoGG charge to dump green waste AND mulch and sell it? (A ‘double dip’ at the tip!)

Geelong administrators encourage community engagement

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DCSCA members heard the three administrators of the Greater Geelong City Council outline their ambitions at a community engagement meeting the administrators ran at Parks Hall, Portarlington on 20 July at 5.30pm.

Geelong City Hall

The administrators are acting as the Greater Geelong City Council, which the Victorian government dismissed on 16 April 2016, appointing Yehudi Blacher as interim administrator. The three administrators are Dr. Kathy Alexander (chairperson), Peter Dorling and Laurinda Gardner. They were appointed on 25 May 2016 and will run the council until elections are held in 2017 for a new council. At this meeting, they were accompanied by six senior council officers.

Administrators’ responsibilities

Dr. Alexander outlined the administrators’ responsibilities as follows:

1. To create a ‘citizens jury’ through which the community can have its say on how the City of Greater Geelong should be governed; to report quarterly to the Minister for Local Government on progress and on issues of concern; and to recommend actions to the Minister.

2. To create a thirty year Vision and Strategy for the municipality.

3. To recommend how the City of Greater Geelong should be governed from 2017. The administrators want to involve all parties and interests in these decisions, so they will seek comment from the community, e.g. through more community engagement forums.

4. To design a Community Communication Strategy.

No more piecemeal development

There followed a question and answer session. Most questions concerned issues at Portarlington, but there was also a call for development in/of Drysdale to be more coordinated and inclusive, rather than the piecemeal approach adopted to date. In response, CoGG’s William Tieppo said that Vic Roads would aim to coordinate the various developments; and subsequently, VicRoads and CoGG have created a Project Control Group to co-ordinate the planning and transport matters that link the Drysdale bypass, the improvements to the High Street and the proposals concerning the future of the ‘town square’.

Let's talk rubbish!

DCSCA has been invited to join a Community Consultation Group for the Drysdale Landfill site.

The Group was launched officially at a public meeting on 7 June 2016 at the SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre. The City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) manages the Drysdale Landfill site (aka the Drysdale tip!) and called this public meeting.

People at the meeting agreed that local people should be able to have their say about the landfill site through formal and informal channels – regular meetings of a formal Consultation Group and informal occasions when people can talk to Council staff about waste related issues. Occasionally, guests could be invited to discuss how the Drysdale site fits into broader waste management issues, such as:

·      the Barwon South West Regional Resource Recovery group, which produces a rolling Plan that informs operations at local landfill sites between Portland and Geelong

·      the Regional Waste Forum and its Reference Group.

CoGG manages the site and, as such, will take decisions about it. The role of the Community Consultation Group will be to inform the council’s decisions. It remains to be seen just what influence the Community Consultation Group can have.

Bellarine Peninsula misses out on ferry trial

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(Source: Herald-Sun)

Businessman Paul Little has announced that on May 16, it will start an eight-week trial of a ferry service between Point Cook and Docklands that won’t include a stop on the Bellarine Peninsula.

In the trial, a catamaran will ferry 400 passengers indoors from Wyndham Harbour near Point Cook, to Docklands' Victoria Harbour in the CBD in the morning peak time; and will return during the evening peak time. Mr Little's Little Group has established a new company - Port Phillip Ferries – to run the service, which will take around 70 minutes each way. The new company wants to reduce the travel time, which it says is due to low speed limits on the Yarra River.

An adult return fare will cost around $20 during the trial, while the normal cost will be $25 for an online booking and $29 if bought on the day, with discounts for seniors, children and concession cardholders. Parking at Wyndham Harbour marina will be included in the fare and ferry passengers will have free wi-fi access.

 

Still no ferry for the Bellarine

When Mr Little first floated his plan for a ferry service in October 2015, it included a stop at Portarlington, but Mr Little said more work was needed to allow ferries to berth there. "We'd be very happy to run the ferries out of Portarlington if the demand was there", he said.

The infrastructure for a Portarlington ferry stop will be completed in the months after the Port Phillip Ferries trial. The 2016 state budget includes money for Stage Two of the $15m ‘safe harbour’ at Portarlington, which includes docking for ferry services and is due to be completed in the 2016-2017 financial year. The budget also includes $107m to build the long-awaited Drysdale bypass which, once complete, will make a Portarlington ferry a more attractive option for people from the western Bellarine who commute to Melbourne.

Begging the question

Point Cook residents who have to spend hours a day travelling to and from jobs in the city would welcome a ferry between Wyndham Harbour and Melbourne’s CBD. Similarly, Bellarine Peninsula residents forced to commute to Melbourne would welcome a ferry between Portarlington and the CBD – either as part of the proposed Port Phillip Ferries service or in addition to it.

However, such ferry services solve a problem that shouldn’t have been created – insufficient business and jobs for the expanding population of Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula. The City of Greater Geelong has actively encouraged the creation of ever more housing estates, home to many thousands of residents, without ensuring that there are jobs to support them. The result is the creation of 'dormitory towns' as an increasing number of people on the Bellarine joining commuters from Geelong on the hours-long commuter trek to and from central Melbourne.

For example, when the Curlewis ‘growth area’ on the outskirts of Drysdale is completed, it will house  around 16,000 people, yet the area is virtually deserted during the day (apart from builders and tradies building more houses), because so many of its residents are commuters. The only jobs are at the small shopping centre, with its Woolworth supermarket and a handful of ‘speciality’ shops and even these will be at risk as the Leopold shopping centre expands from its present 5,000m² to 65,000m² by 2021. (See “More shops, no vision” [13 October 2013] on this blog.)

Creating a jobs drain

An expanded Leopold shopping centre will drain custom from elsewhere on the Bellarine, just as shopping centres in Waurn Ponds and Corio Village have drained custom from central Geelong. The shopping centres provide some new jobs, but most are relatively low-skilled, low-paid and with very limited career paths. Why are there no plans to provide other sorts of jobs?

CoGG's drive to expand the population of the Bellarine must be accompanied by plans to expand and diversify employment. As a rule of thumb, a new job should be created for each house built. That would at least start to match economic growth with population growth.

Windswept but worth it!

DCSCA's new marquee had its first outing on Saturday 9 January at the annual Mussel Festival in Portarlington.

Janet Jenkin, Diane Schofield and Rick Paradise

The association was one of several organisations with connections to the local coastline that formed a display near the entrance to the Portarlington pier.

The display was coordinated by Bellarine Bayside, which hopes that the display will become a regular feature of the Mussel Festival.

Overall, the weather was quite benign, but occasional strong gusts of wind coming off the bay had stall-holders frantically retrieving the leaflets, brochures and flyers that they had laid out carefully and artistically! One marquee nearly ended up in the bay, but the DCSCA marquee acquitted itself well and at the last count, none of the volunteers from the DCSCA and Festival of Glass committees was missing!

Making ourselves known
The display formed an adjunct to the Mussel Festival proper and a steady stream of people walked past it or through it on their way to the Festival. The volunteers at the DCSCA tent promoted two new features of the Festival of Glass - the glass art Treasure Hunt, which starts on February 1st and finishes at the Festival Expo on Sunday 21 February; and the glass art Masterclass at Leura Park on February 19. There was a lot of interest, with people taking leaflets faster than the wind!

(For more information on the glass art Treasure Hunt  and the glass art Masterclass, see the Festival of Glass web site: www.festivalofglass.net.au)

DCSCA at the Portarlington Mussel Festival

DCSCA will have a stall at the 10th annual Portarlington Mussel Festival on January 9th, following an invitation by the Festival organisers.

The annual Mussel Festival is very popular with locals and with the tourists who swell the population of the Bellarine Peninsula at this time each year.

The 2016 Festival will run from 9.30am to 5.00pm. It will include 100 food and drink stalls, market stalls, local musicians and entertainers, art shows, cooking demonstrations and tastings of local beer and wine .... "and all this for just $2!", as the organisers say.

The 2015 Festival attracted 10,000 people and still more are expected at this year's event.

For information about the stall-holders, go to www.portmusselfestival.com/stallholders/

The DCSCA stall will be near the pier; we're looking forward to meeting you and hearing your views on how the area is growing and developing.

VicRoads update on the Drysdale Bypass

On 17 December 2015, DCSCA received the following update on the Drysdale Bypass from Tim Price, Project Director (Drysdale Bypass) at VicRoads.

As 2015 draws to a close, I would like to thank the local community for providing feedback at our Drysdale Bypass information sessions this year and provide an update on the status of the project.

The community strongly supports the proposed bypass and a review of pedestrian facilities, cycling facilities and intersections along High Street to improve traffic and safety. Feedback from these sessions is being taken into account in planning studies and design development for the proposed Bypass and High Street improvements.

Over the next few months, VicRoads will complete a traffic analysis and a number of studies, including environment management, cultural heritage and social impact.

I want to assure the community that there will be further opportunities to provide feedback about the project next year, including a formal Planning Scheme Amendment process for the Bypass. Under this process, the public will be invited to make written submissions about the proposed Bypass design.

The State Government has committed $3 million to improve traffic and safety through High Street. This is in addition to the $106 million committed to plan and build the Drysdale Bypass. I thank everyone for their input, patience and support for this project and look forward to working further with the community in 2016.

On behalf of VicRoads, I wish everyone a happy and safe holiday on our roads.

Open Day celebrates a new beginning

Drysdale and Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA) will run an Open Day on Saturday 19 December between 11.00am and 3.00pm at 164 Wyndham Street, Drysdale.

The Open Day will feature:

* A garage sale, a plant sale, a raffle, a Lions BBQ and coffee by Cafe2U

* Live music by Chris Wilson, Tex Miller, Narelle Jolley (of Sweet Dolores and the Whirling Sprurs) and Sarah Carroll (The Ukelele Queen of the Bellarine!)

* Glass blowing and Open Studio by Dax BeadArt's Glenda MacNaughton.

A new beginning!

The Open Day and Open Studio aims to raise funds for the association, to boost its membership and to invite people to join it in promoting the wellbeing of the community and its environment.

The event also celebrates the end of the year-long controversy over a new service station being built in Drysdale by Milemaker Petroleum. The controversy led to the association being ordered to pay Milemaker legal costs of $5,500, but some months later, the company waived the bill as a gesture of good will to the community.

Association Secretary Patrick Hughes said, “Milemaker’s generous gesture marks a new beginning for the association. We can return reinvigorated to our work, including representing local people’s views to outside organisations, lobbying for increased services and leisure facilities for the area’s expanding population and running the annual Festival of Glass.”

DCSCA proposal is a priority for regional planners

DCSCA has proposed that the City of Greater Geelong should conduct a scoping study into creating a ‘Bellarine Link’ – an extension of the Geelong Ring Road to the Bellarine.

The association made its proposal as part of the council’s annual Community Budget Submission programme, which allows community groups to nominate capital projects (i.e. building work) that they believe the council should undertake.

Pushing an open door

Subsequently, DCSCA has learnt that a Bellarine Link is a priority for the council and is part of the Regional Growth Plan developed by the Geelong Regional Alliance (G21), which brings together government, business and community organisations across the five municipalities of Colac Otway, Golden Plains, Greater Geelong, Queenscliffe and Surf Coast.

The state government has committed $4m for a planning study into the costs, benefits and construction stages of a Bellarine Link. The study is due to report in 2017/18, but VicRoads is trying to get the funding sooner. Vic Roads will drive the study, with officers from the City of Greater Geelong also involved in it.

It’s good to see that at least one of DCSCA’s proposals aligns with the region’s growth plan. Now, where’s that Drysdale swimming pool?!

Reprieve for community association facing closure

The Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association has had a reprieve!

On Friday 6 November, the association heard from Mr. Ari Singer, General Manager of Caltex franchisee Milemaker Petroleum, that the company had decided, as a gesture of goodwill to the local community, to waive $5,500 in legal costs that the association owed Milemaker.

Association President Rick Paradise said, “The association congratulates Milemaker for making this generous gesture to the local community. It takes the financial pressure off the association, for which we’re grateful; and it shows that the company wants a good relationship with the community, which is good news for everyone.”

The association incurred the legal costs when VCAT dismissed its request to prevent Milemaker from building a service station at the junction of Jetty Road and High Street, Drysdale. Hundreds of residents had objected to a service station at that location, but VCAT dismissed the case, ordering the association to pay Milemaker $5,500 in legal costs by 7 December.

The reprieve from Milemaker came just a week after the association had launched a public appeal to raise the $5,500, emphasising that if it failed to pay the $5,500, it faced further legal action that would probably close it down.

Association Treasurer Doug Carson said, “People responded generously to the Appeal, for which we’re very grateful. With the legal costs waived, we intend, as promised, to return each contribution with our thanks and a sigh of relief!”

A new beginning!

Association Secretary Patrick Hughes said, “This reprieve marks a new beginning for the association. We can return reinvigorated to our work, including representing local people’s views to outside organisations, lobbying for increased leisure facilities for the area’s expanding population and running the popular annual Festival of Glass.”

To mark its new beginning, the association will run a “DCSCA Open Day” between 11.00am and 3.00pm on Saturday 19 December at 164 Wyndham Street, Drysdale. There will be a garage sale, stalls, live music, glass-blowing demonstrations and a chance to learn more about DCSCA’s work – and to join in.

DCSCA lauches a Costs Appeal at its AGM

The Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association held its 2015 Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 21 October at the SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre in High Street, Drysdale.

Around thirty people attended the meeting, which started with an illustrated talk by Ralph Roob

Foreshore, Clifton Springs

about the work being done to stabilise and upgrade the foreshore around Drysdale and Clifton Springs. Ralph is the Senior Environmental Engineer at the City of Greater Geelong, which owns most of the local foreshore. He described how boulders, rocks and sand are being used in different ways to combat erosion of the cliffs and beaches of the area and to stablise The Dell; and how a new causeway will reach out from the boat harbour and act as the long-awaited fishing platform.

Several members of the audience asked questions about the works being done and about the future of the foreshore, based clearly on their own experiences of walking, boating or fishing there.

In his responses, Ralph invited people to join the Clifton Springs & Curlewis Coastcare Group - a volunteer-based 'friends of the foreshore'-type group of people who want to see the area looked after.  The group will form at meeting at 6.00pm on Wednesday 18th November at SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre in High Street, Drysdale.

The AGM's formal business

After thanks to Ralph and a short break, the formal business of the AGM was conducted. The Minutes of the 2014 AGM were approved, DCSCA's audited accounts for 2014-2015 were accepted and DCSCA President Rick Paradise gave his Report on the year's activities. Then, the meeting adopted a new Constitution and agreed to raise membership fees from $5 to $10 from July 2016.

The next item on the Agenda was the election of a Committee to run the Association for the next year. The results were:
President: Rick Paradise; Vice-President: Anne Brackley; Treasurer: Doug Carson; Secretary: Patrick Hughes. Committee members: Sarah Carroll, Neil McGuinness, Bob Penfold and Mike Windsor.

It was agreed that DCSCA would hold its 2016 Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 19th October at 7.00pm at SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre, Drysdale High Street.

Launch of DCSCA's Cost Appeal
The final item on the AGM agenda was the launch of DCSCA's Cost Appeal. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal (VCAT) has ordered DCSCA to pay Caltex franchisee Milemaker Petroleum $5,500 in legal costs by 7^th December 2015. If DCSCA doesn’t pay the bill, it faces further legal action, which would close it down.

DCSCA accepts VCAT’s ruling and intends to pay the $5,500, but it doesn’t have the funds.  The Association has launched a Cost Appeal to raise the money and is inviting members, friends and supporters to contribute to it.

Why is a Cost Appeal necessary?

Milemaker Petroleum is building a service station at the junction of Jetty Road and High Street, Drysdale, having received planning permission by the City of Greater Geelong council. DCSCA asked VCAT to overturn Milemaker’s planning permission for two reasons:

1.     The council had ignored widespread local opposition to a service station at that location, which is a ‘Rural Living’ zone. Prior to the VCAT hearing in May 2015, more than 400 people signed a DCSCA petition opposing a service station at that location.

2.     Planning permission for a service station at that location was inconsistent with the council’s refusal of planning permission for a child care centre in the same Rural Living zone, on the grounds that a commercial development there would be inappropriate.

The chair of the VCAT hearing rejected DCSCA’s application and invited Milemaker to apply for costs. DCSCA’s request to VCAT not to award legal costs against it received widespread support from each level of government: local federal MPs Richard Marles and Sarah Henderson, local state MP and Environment Minister Lisa Neville and local councillor Rod Macdonald. Support also came from several local community groups; and an online petition gathered 349 signatures. Nonetheless, VCAT ordered DCSCA to pay Milemaker $5,500 in legal costs.

DCSCA and Lisa Neville (local state MP and Environment Minister) wrote separately to Milemaker, asking the company to waive the $5,500 as a gesture of good will to the local community. Neither has received a reply.

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DCSCA COST APPEAL

Online. DCSCA's account at Bendigo Bank. Please go to www.bendigobank.com.au. DCSCA's account is BSB 633000, Acc. 1497 62791. Please put "MM" in the 'Reference' line.

By mail. DCSCA, P.O. Box 581, Drysdale 3222. Plese put "MM" on the envelope.

In person (i). There is a collection box in the SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre, Drysdale High Street.

 In person (ii). Become a member of DCSCA. The annual membership fee is just $5 until July 2016; and this can be paid online or by mail (see above)

Please include your name and e-mail or postal address with your contribution; if Milemaker belatedly agrees to waive the legal costs, DCSCA will return all donations and pledges - with a sigh of relief!