Bellarine foreshore under attack – and under repair

The recent storms damaged the foreshore at various points around the Bellarine Peninsula, washing away parts of beaches and undermining safety signs!

In Clifton Springs,  engineering contractors have undertaken extensive works at the foreshore below Edgewater Drive. Many local people will have watched contractors moving earth and shifting rocks in this area of the foreshore. This work (with more to come) should prevent further erosion of the beach and cliff face.

The work is in response to continuing erosion by the sea. Landslides have created near-vertical cliffs with, at their base, eroding debris. In response, a new 150m sea wall of rock-filled metal baskets ('gabion baskets') is being created, which should prevent further erosion. Elsewhere in the area, large quantities of  boulders are being used to create protective walls ('revetments' or 'buttresses') at the cliff face to prevent waves undermining the cliff and causing more landslides.

CoGG engineers have kept DCSCA informed about the work, which we appreciate. In turn, they have asked us to inform local people about the works. This article is one way in which we're doing this; another will be a DCSCA Public Meeting about foreshore safety on 17 July at 7.00 pm at SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre. Hear City of Greater Geelong engineers explain how recent work on the Clifton Springs foreshore will make the area safer, then have your say.

Drysdale bypass - what's the secret, Minister?

Peak hour - Drysdale High Street

VicRoads is undertaking yet another study into traffic issues in Drysdale, even while keeping its previous study a secret.

In December 2012, VicRoads completed a feasibility study into a bypass for Drysdale, but hasn't published it. Lisa Neville (MP for Bellarine) has requested a copy of this secret study from state Transport Minister Terry Mulder, but he has failed to provide one.

Meanwhile, VicRoads is undertaking another study, this time to create an Integrated Transport Model for Drysdale that will propose a 'holistic' solution to the town's traffic problems. The new study has no completion date and it isn't clear whether it will be published.

DCSCA Committee members heard about the latest study on 18 June, when they discussed Drysdale's traffic problems with Lisa Neville and representatives of the City of Greater Geelong. Lisa Neville had called the meeting; the City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) was represented by local councillors Rod Macdonald (Cheetham ward) and Lindsay Ellis (Coryule ward) and by Gary Van Dreel, General Manager of City Services. The Regional Director of VicRoads had been invited but at the last minute he withdrew and was unable to provide an alternative. 

Seeking a 'holistic' traffic solution

The absence of any VicRoads representatives at the 18 June meeting precluded any serious discussion about local traffic issues. For instance, has VicRoads updated its 2011 Drysdale census, which found 18,000 vehicles a day using the High Street? That figure is well on the way to the 24,000 vehicles a day that would trigger the building of a bypass; and in the ensuing two years, major housing estates have started in Jetty Road and Murradoc Road and 'infill development' is creating more houses on empty blocks. So it's not a question of whether traffic in Drysdale High Street will reach the 24,000 vehicles/day trigger point but when; and it makes sense to start building the bypass now, rather than wait until 24,000 vehicles/day bring the High Street to a halt.

(Incidentally, a big DCSCA 'Welcome!' to new residents to the area.)

The absence of any VicRoads representatives also precluded any discussion about what the elements of a 'holistic' solution could be, but they could include upgrading existing outlying roads, rather than creating a new bypass. VicRoads estimates that the Drysdale bypass will cost $60-80 million. It owns about half of the land required to build the bypass and is acquiring the rest as it comes on the market.

The secret to success?

VicRoads looks to local planning bodies for guidance on which roads should be built next; and while a Drysdale bypass is on the priority list of the regional planning body G21, it isn't a stated CoGG priority. So while people in Drysdale await the publication of the existing secret feasibility study into the bypass, together with the forthcoming Integrated Transport Model, they may wish to ask their local councillors, 'How many secret reports does it take to build a bypass?' 

A light rail service for Drysdale?

The Victorian state government is investigating the viability of a rail service between South Geelong and Drysdale.

This has emerged from the state government's budget for 2013-2014, which includes this small item:
'The Government is investigating the viability of rail services between South Geelong to Drysdale and Grovedale to Torquay.' ('Budget Papers: Regional and Rural Victoria'. p5)

On first reading, the budget appears not to say how much it will spend on the study; watch this space for more detail.

For some time, DCSCA has been calling for a study into the viability of a light rail service connecting Geelong and the Bellarine. We have said consistently that traffic management is linked inextricably with economic development, because in the absence of a growing local economy, new residents will be forced to commute elsewhere. We've argued that the local economy needs to grow in ways that will provide people with real choices over where they work; that will stem the tide of wealth and talent flowing out of our towns and into Geelong and Melbourne; and that will rein-in the ever-increasing amounts of greenhouse gases produced by commuters' vehicles.

A light rail service on the Bellarine would reduce local petrol-based traffic and, in the process, create new local jobs. Here are a couple of possibilities:

• A light rail service between Geelong and Drysdale. This service could be extended to Queenscliff, to link with the ferry; and the service could also be extended to Portarlington if another ferry service starts there.
• A light rail 'Circle Line' running around the Bellarine and through each town (including ferry terminals), with a 'spur' connecting it with central Geelong and another 'spur' connecting it with Torquay.

DCSCA's interest in light rail is part of its program Going Green on the Bellarine, which aims to develop the local area as a showcase of tomorrow's 'green' economy. 

So while it's good to see the state government taking an interest, let's not assume that a rail link, by itself, will contribute to the growth and development of the area.

See earlier articles on the issue on this Blog:
'Planning for traffic and jobs' (8 October 2011)
'Our region's future - have your say' (25 November 2011)
'Thunderous reception for G21 "Listening post".' (13 December 2011)

'Community Involvement Day' a great success!

Lookout at The Dell

On April 26, more than 170 people attended a Community Involvement Day at The Dell, Clifton Springs, where they planted native grasses and learnt about the area's ecology and history.

The event consisted of five ecology and history activities, each lasting about 25 minutes. At the end of the activities, the Clifton Springs Lions served up a BBQ lunch, along with fruit and a cool drink.

The 170 participants comprised about 140 students from the Drysdale Primary School and the Clifton Springs Primary School, about 10 teachers, 20 parents, and volunteers from Bellarine Catchment Management Network, City of Greater Geelong, Bellarine Bayside, Corangamite Catchment Management Authority, Geelong Indigenous Nursery, Bellarine Landcare.

After lunch, Drysdale Primary School principal Phil Dunlop-Moore spoke on behalf of the two schools participating. He emphasised that the area is our home, that we should take care of it and that today's event was a way to take care of it. Phil was followed by Karin Sheppard, president of the Bellarine Catchment Network, who thanked the students for taking part, the volunteers for their help and of course, the Lions for lunch. Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association Treasurer Doug Carson wound up the event by thanking everyone for their hard work, then two school students each said 'Thank you' to the organisers for making the event happen.

Doug Carson said, 'Clearly, the event was a success - I kept getting asked, "When are you having another one?"!'

The Community Involvement Day is part of a programme to revegetate the area, being run by a DCSCA-led consortium of local organisations, including the Dept of Sustainability & Environment, Landcare, Bellarine Catchment Network and the City of Greater Geelong. The consortium received $15,000 from the Commonwealth Government's Caring for our Country Community Action Grants program to undertake the work.

The Community Involvement Day was scheduled originally for June 22 2012, but bad weather forced its postponement to August 24 2012, when land slippage forced a second postponement. (See earlier posts on drycliftdays: 'Dell project survives storms, landslips!' [September 12 2012]; and '"Greening" the Dell' [May 9 2012].) 

Clifton Springs fountain 'on the radar'

The future of the Clifton Springs fountain is now part of the City of Greater Geelong's budget negotiations. 

Councillor Lindsay Ellis (Coryule ward) has told members of the Clifton Springs fountain working group that councillors will consider the fountain's future as part of the negotiations leading to the council's 2013/14 budget. He added that a report on the fountain's condition - and an estimate of the cost of refurbishing it - is due from council officers on 23 April.

Cr Ellis emphasized that at this stage in the council's budget process, he couldn't guarantee that the council would commit any funds to the fountain, let alone any specific figure. However, at last the fountain's future is 'on the radar' as the council develops policies to fund the maintenance of such 'public art' across Geelong.

Doing something new .... in keeping with the old
In response, the members of the fountain working group emphasized that local people want something done about the fountain's continuing deterioration. They feel that it has been neglected for far too long and they’re concerned not just because it is becoming an eyesore but because they are genuinely fond of it and want this piece of public art to become once more something of which they can be proud and from which they can gain pleasure.

A public meeting on March 12 about the fountain's future expressed broad support for renovating the structure and including a major glass structure (e.g. an abstract ‘sculpture’). A much smaller amount of water would flow over the structure in an enclosed (i.e. non-evaporative) system featuring signs and symbols of the area’s past and possible futures. This would link the fountain with some of the public art at The Dell; it would evoke the time when mineral water was exported from Clifton Springs in torpedo-shaped glass bottles; and it would celebrate the growing reputation of Drysdale/Clifton Springs as a centre of glass-related art, craft and industry through the impacts of the annual Festival of Glass.

A fountain reflecting local people's wishes

Members of the fountain working group - which includes representation from the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association - are doing background investigations into various aspects of the fountain, prior to presenting some options for its future to a second public meeting. They are determined that the fountain should be renovated in a way that reflects - as far as possible - local people’s values, ideals and hopes for their future; and are keen to work with councillors and officers to that end.

Drysdale cemetery safe 'in perpetuity'

Catholic church, eastern cemetery, Drysdale

Geelong Cemeteries Trust CEO Darryl Thomas has stated that  the Trust has decided to retain its vacant land next to Drysdale cemetery, rather than sell it off.

Mr Thomas made the announcement at a public meeting in Drysdale on April 17, prompting spontaneous applause from the thirty local people who attended. The Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association had organised the meeting, following  months of speculation about the cemetery's future.

Mr. Thomas told the meeting that the Trust had considered selling the vacant land and using the proceeds to buy land elsewhere on the Bellarine Peninsula for a new cemetery to service the whole Peninsula. He pointed out that if the City of Greater Geelong rezoned the Trust's vacant Drysdale land as 'High density residential', it would be worth a lot of money. However, the Trust's proposal had generated significant local opposition. This led the Trust to abandon its proposal to sell off the land and, instead, to use it to expand the existing Drysdale cemetery.

Mr. Thomas also sought to calm any fears that any part of the (expanded) cemetery might face a 'change of use' in the future. Graves, he said, exist 'in perpetuity' and so a burial ground, once created, remains a burial ground forever.

Third time lucky for Dell project?

A DCSCA-led consortium will run a Community Involvement Day at The Dell on April 26.

During the day, around 130 local primary school students (plus parents and teachers!) will plant dozens of native plants in the area around The Dell lookout, learning about environmental stewardship and sustainability as they go.

The Community Involvement Day is part of a programme to revegetate the area, for which the consortium received $15,000 from the Commonwealth Government's Caring for our Country Community Action Grants program. The consortium includes the Dept of Sustainability & Environment, Landcare, Bellarine Catchment Network and the City of Greater Geelong.

The Community Involvement Day was scheduled originally for June 22 2012, but bad weather forced its postponement to August 24 2012, when land slippage forced a second postponement. If anyone sees a plague of locusts on the horizon, please tell the consortium!

(See earlier posts on drycliftdays: 'Dell project survives storms, landslips!' [September 12 2012]; and '"Greening" the Dell' [May 9 2012].)