Bellarine_Independent_170513

The Bellarine Peninsula

Friday, 17 May, 2013

Connecting people and communities

Phone: 5249 6700 Trades and Classifieds: 1300 666 808

Australasia’s ‘best chef’ Ben dreams of local restaurant By CHERIE DONNELLAN

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MASTER CHEF: Attica owner and Ocean Grove resident Ben Shewry.

‘Priorities list’ boost for harbour, bypass By MICHELLE HERBISON PROPOSALS to redevelop Portarlington’s harbour and extend Geelong’s ring road to the Bellarine Peninsula have earned places on a new list of council priority projects. Council revealed the list of funding priorities for 2013 to 2017 this week as part of its annual budget process. Council said it was developing options to fund Parks Victoria’s master plan for the Portarlington safe harbour project, including working with

State Government and the private sector. State Government in 2009 estimated the project would cost $58 million. The budget document said a ring road extension to the peninsula, including a planning study worth between $3 million and $5 million, required funding commitments from federal and state governments. The road extension would reduce residential and east-west traffic congestion in central Geelong and boost tourism opportunities.

The safe harbour would position Portarlington as “the home of sustainable aquaculture� and a “premier recreation and commercial boating hub�, the document said. “Portarlington Safe Harbour will provide a much-needed enhancement of the existing marine infrastructure at Portarlington. Portarlington Pier is currently in poor condition with unsustainable short-term measures in place to strengthen and protect the structure.� Mussel farmer Lance Whiffen said the funding priorities were

“fantastic news� for the region but the safe harbour would rely on private investment. The local shellfish industry could only grow and create more jobs with a safe harbour, he said. “At the moment I haven’t got any capacity to expand my fleet because there’s nowhere to put a boat. Our pier’s breaking down and getting older all the time. “Unless money’s spent it will become unusable.� Portarlington Business Development Association president John Rae was “absolutely

thrilled� councillor Lindsay Ellis had pushed for prioritisation of the safe harbour. “This is a very important step towards moving this whole project along. The next step is to gain funding from State Government which would probably be around the next election time.� Member for Bellarine Lisa Neville has previously criticised the government for “sitting on its hands� on the safe harbour plans. Mr Rae, who called the budget “responsible�, also approved of the ring road extension project.

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AUSTRALASIA’S best chef could open a restaurant closer to his Ocean Grove home, he has told the Independent. Ben Shewry said the Geelong region had “a lot of potential�. “I’d just want to have an opportunity at the right time,� he revealed. “Longer term, there’s a possibility.� Shewry and his Melbourne-based restaurant Attica recently earned 21st place on a revered San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. The ranking delivered Shewry the title of Australiasia’s best chef and made Attica the “highest-climbing� entrant after placing 63rd last year. “I was blown away,� Shewry said of the title he shared with Attica coowners David and Helen Maccora. “We were sitting there in the countdown – we knew we were on the list but they don’t tell you where. “We were thinking we’d come in at 48 or something like that but it kept going down. I thought, ‘Oh my god, we’re in the 30s’ and then we were in the 20s. “It was an amazing feeling (to come 21st). Very humbling – unbelievable.� Shewry worked at Attica several years before moving to Ocean Grove for a “better, simpler, quieter life�.