NEWS DESK
Water needs cash flow Stephen Taylor steve@baysidenews.com.au
Harbouring hope: The team from Women’s Spirit Project is seeking funding to help complete their trek across the Mornington Peninsula. Picture: Supplied
Projects aim to pick up votes VOTING for a state government Pick My Project community grant initiative is now open with 36 projects in the Frankston area eligible for funding. At least $1 million in funding will be made available for projects in the Cardinia, Casey, Greater Dandenong, Kingston, and Mornington Peninsula regions. Any individual project is eligible to receive up to $200,000 in funding. One of those is a bid by Wallara Australia to build a new playground and visitor facilities at Sages Cottage farm in Baxter. “Sages Cottage farm has been a special place on the peninsula for many years. Our vision is to carry on that legacy and open it up to everyone to create a truly unique and inclusive property for people of all abilities to enjoy. I encourage all members of the community to vote for our Pick my Project bid to help us realise
our vision to build Australia’s most inclusive farm and set a new benchmark for inclusive attractions on the Mornington Peninsula,” said Wallara CEO Phil Hayes-Brown. Another campaign for funding is being made by the team behind the Women’s Spirit Project. The project is aiming to recruit 25 local women who will participate in 25 days of workshops over four months. It will end in a 70-kilometre trek of the Mornington Peninsula. “What I have learned, time and time again is that holistic programs that work with the mind, body and soul awaken the full dimension of who we are,” Women’s Spirit Project founder Jodie Belyea said. “In those moments of achievement and struggle, adventures reveal what we are made of; what we are capable of, supporting us to grow in confidence and resilience. Frankston
has some of the worst statistics in the country for measuring disadvantage and I know that this project can help change that.” Applications were made for funding through the program from May 2018. A total of $30 million will be available to fund projects across the state. Voting to select which projects should receive funding will be open to the public until 17 September. Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Bryan Payne said he “encourages community members to get behind these wonderful local initiatives taking place throughout the peninsula”. There are 56 projects eligible for funding in the Mornington Peninsula region. Votes can be cast online at pickmyproject.vic.gov.au online. The final winners will be announced in late September. Brodie Cowburn
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MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council wants the state and federal governments to underwrite an infrastructure program to drought proof the shire and lift its firefighting capabilities. This follows calls for a “resilient” water supply made at the June Green Wedge Summit at Main Ridge. The shire and South East Water agreed to jointly investigate “the potential for sustainable water projects”, including rain water, urban run-off and artesian water and the 350 million litres of treated water pumped daily into the sea at Gunnamatta. Pipes from Melbourne Water’s Eastern Treatment Plant carrying the recycled water pass Arthurs Seat in Collins Road, Dromana. The shire wants governments to “take a bipartisan approach to bringing forward plans and announcing a policy for funding the introduction of a major water recycling program for the Mornington Peninsula”. The mayor Cr Bryan Payne said a recycled water plan needed to “not only focus on water security for agricultural production but also for firefighting, particularly in the ridge areas of the peninsula where there are thousands of residents, farms and visitors to tourism facilities in summer”. He said the plan would involve pumping Class A recycled water to Arthurs Seat, the highest point on the peninsula, and then gravity feeding it all over the shire through a network of pipes. Fire hydrants at strategic junctions would allow roadside quick-fill points for CFA trucks during a major fire “instead of
isolated tanks which may not be accessible during an emergency”. Cr Payne said drought conditions had impacted rural communities and “should be a major signpost for governments at all levels to maximise opportunities to provide recycled water for current and future generations”. “The reality is the Victorian government should have had this scheme factored into their firefighting strategy,” he said. The shire could also consider involving part of its 230 hectare property, The Briars, Mt Martha, to demonstrate crop development, promoting the recycled water scheme and for education programs. “The development of a recycled water pipeline and system for the peninsula is vital to provide water security to the wide variety of agricultural activities, including wineries, beef production, and agricultural based tourism, as well as firefighting,” Cr Payne said. “All of these activities are key employment and sustainable employment generators.” Nepean Liberal candidate Russel Joseph said the water would be pumped to steel tanks and existing large dams that would be topped up all year. “We would not have to rely on rainfall to fill the dams which would free us from the effects of drought and climate change,” he said. “By using the recycled water we could restore environmental flows to creeks and streams. “Firefighting helicopters could simply lower their booms into large dams to fill their tanks and then be away more quickly.”
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27 August 2018
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