no marina for mornington

Yesterday I went to the No Marina public gathering on Mother's Beach in Mornington. Over 200 community members gathered to express their concern about a proposed Marina development and planning scheme amendment, which if approved, would see a 210 boat Marina constructed in Mornington Harbour with a 210m long concrete wave screen wall, rising 4m above high tide and extensions to the heritage listed Mornington Pier.

There's no doubting that Mornington Harbour is an iconic part of Melbourne, not only to those who live locally but to visitors too. To think a 4 metre high wave wall would extend into such a beautiful vista is appalling.

The public meeting included speakers who addressed a full range of implications should the Marina proposal go ahead. Concerns were raised by local environmentalists, the Blue Wedge coalition and Master Mariner, Alan Clark.

I spoke about the importance of the planning scheme and how community members should base their concerns using the planning scheme.

The Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme Clause 21.03 says "Mornington Peninsula - Regional Role and Local Vision acknowledges the environmental values within the Mornington Peninsula and recognises that the Peninsula's coastal and foreshore areas are of special recreational significance in Melbourne". Already the council recognises the importance of the region.

The proposed planning scheme amendment would rezone the land from a Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) to a Public Park and Recreation Zone (PPRZ).

The harbor is currently zoned Public Conservation and Resource Zone "to indicate coastal areas and other public land with high environmental value and limited capacity to absorb development". This is the appropriate zoning and I think the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council got it right when they first zoned this area.

The last thing the community want to see is a rezoning to Public Park and Recreation Zone as this will give the green light "for the more intensively utilised areas of public land, including sections of the Port Phillip Bay foreshore".

Not only that the site has an Environmental Significance Overlay and a Heritage Overlay (HO228 Mornington Pier) which "aims to conserve and enhance heritage places of natural or cultural significance and ensure that development does not adversely affect the significance of heritage places".

It is a much loved community place however should the development go ahead it will become a place restricted and not available for the public to use.

The impacts are extensive and key to that is the impact on amenity, the planning scheme is all about amenity and I encouraged community members to make sure their submissions talked about the impact on their amenity.

We heard about the environmental impacts with Master Mariner, Alan Clark, talking about the inevitability of pollutants entering the environment and sand migration from the construction of the wave wall.

There is no doubt that the development would impact on users of Mother's Beach due to increased sand accumulation, increased number of boats and increased water pollution. Also of concern the increase in traffic and congestion.

I outlined the Greens position. The Greens believe that all planning decisions should give greater weight to environmental factors, to deliver sustainable, human-scaled, livable communities.

The Greens also believe that local communities and governments need ongoing, substantive, and meaningful opportunities to participate in planning decision-making.

The Greens want to create a public assessment process to be used prior to any alienation or change of use of public land.

The Greens want a strengthening of the Environmental Effects Statement process, to enable proposals that result in a loss of biodiversity or a reduction of the areas of parks and reserves to be blocked.

I explained that councillors must be open and fair minded to both objectors and the applicant and would not be able to publicly comment on the application, however I encouraged community members to continue to contact their councillors, make public submissions and continue to highlight the issue in the local media.

Ultimately it is up to Councillors to make the decision and it is important that community members keep in contact with them.

I wished the community well in their endeavours to stop the development and planning scheme amendment proceeding.

It is a beautiful place, a stunning vista. The proposed marina is an overdevelopment of the harbour which would see an inappropriate, intensive use of public space and be an ongoing blight on the landscape.