As we near the 2,000 signature mark and buoyed by people’s supporting comments at the community markets I’ve attended, there is a concern that the state government will continue facilitating the “planting of more wall-to-wall houses” on the dwindling agricultural and remnant bushland areas in Western Port’s water catchment area and on Phillip Island.  

It’s evident with the need to house Victoria’s increasing population, the current character and charm of the Western Port region will change, but how much change can it endure before it becomes a “parking lot”?

Given the situation described in this petition and the likelihood that low-lying areas of Western Port’s foreshore will be inundated by sea-level rise, now is the time to act.

Unfortunately however, the current batch of politicians can’t seem to grasp the fact that the Western Port region is a biodiverse and interdependent environment and as a consequence, in need of a strategic management plan to secure its ecological future.

Given this inertia, I propose it’s time to commission Infrastructure Victoria to take up the matter and table a proposal that does not seek to pave paradise.  What do you think?