By Corey Everitt and Cam Lucadou-Wells
Casey and Cardinia Shire councils have endorsed a strategic plan to conserve the world-significant but under-threat Western Port Bay.
They have called on other levels of government to be involved in the protection of the ecologically vital marine life and wetlands.
The strategic framework was created by the Victorian National Parks Association’s campaign called ‘Act for Western Port Bay’.
The document tells of Western Port acquiring some of the worst environmental health indicators across Victoria, with declining populations of certain marine life and bird species.
It had suffered “substantial change” due to “extensive clearing” of its catchment and coastal vegetation, draining of swamplands and urban, agricultural and industrial development.
The water quality in five out of the nine estuaries flowing into Western Port are rated as very poor by the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability.
The bay was home to endangered species such as the Growling Grass Frog and the Southern Brown Bandicoot.
Casey chair administrator Noelene Duff is a member of the Western Port Biosphere Reserve Foundation committee which put forward the plan.
“Western Port is a unique place on the world stage,“ she told a 16 May council meeting.
“It’s the only wetland in Victoria that has been recognised by both the UN as a biosphere reserve and also as an international RAMSAR wetland for conservation.”
The bay lacked a “cohesive and coordinated approach to way it’s being planned and managed”.
According to the document, Western Port has been subjected to inconsistent planning decisions, inadequate monitoring, poor accountability and governance.
Administrator Miguel Belmar said a “new whole-bay approach” was needed.
It required a new strategic plan, a new collaborative management partnership and a dedicated fund.
“It’s important that … Western Port is not a second-order issue but a primary issue in terms of protecting its biodiversity and its assets.”
The plan’s objectives included the need for all future industrial proposals being assessed in an “open and transparent” process, Mr Belmar noted.
Administrator Cameron Boardman said the initiative was “community led”, noting the collective of groups based in towns around the bay as well as larger environmental groups such as Save Western Port.
He said there were planning implications for bayside towns due to coastal and tidal erosion issues.
On 15 May, Cardinia Shire Council also endorsed the plan.
It calls on the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action to establish a collaboration with Traditional Owners and relevant stakeholders such as Melbourne Water.
Casey occupies 35 kilometres of the Western Port coast.
