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$1.40 Incl. GSTWEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2020Your Community Voice!

Figures released by the state gov-ernment on Monday show there are now three active cases in the shire.

This is the fi rst time since April that Bass Coast has recorded active cases of COVID-19.

South Gippsland has also recorded one case of the virus.

Up until last week, over 3000 tests had been conducted in the region. The latest fi gures brings the total number of cases for Bass Coast to seven overall.

“We understand that community members will be anxious about local community transmission,” said Bass Coast Health CEO Jan Child.

“This is a time when our communi-ty needs to stand together. This is not the time for people to blame others or throw vitriol at each other over

social media or in public.“I also want to remind everyone that

this situation is extremely serious“This pandemic is already seeing

increased numbers of impacted com-munity members, increased hospi-talisations and deaths,” Ms Child said.

“The stakes are very high and ev-eryone has a part to play in getting us safely through to the other side. This is not about people who come to visit or people who live here. Ev-eryone is vulnerable and everyone needs to do the right thing.”

Ms Child said BCH will not always know of every positive case and that in the interest of privacy and confi -dentiality, details of cases would not be confi rmed.

She said it was not helpful to be judgemental towards anyone who

had been exposed to the virus.“Please understand that most peo-

ple who become positive, may have been asymptomatic, and many will not even know they have been ex-posed, let alone positive.

“These people, who we call cases, are all good people like you and I, who will be worried and scared; they deserve to have their privacy, and they deserve to have our support as they recover.

“This is a time for us to demon-strate that we are a kind and gener-ous spirited community, and that we care for each other.

“I am confi dent that if we work together, and support each other, and do the right thing, we will get to the other side of this Pandemic in good shape.

“Thank you to large majority of you who do the right thing every day, and thank you for your support to Bass Coast Health staff as we work

to keep our patients, residents, staff and community safe.”

No hospitalisationsBass Coast Health has confi rmed

there are currently no COVID pa-tients at Bass Coast Health sites (Wonthaggi Hospital or Phillip Island Health Hub) and that, to date no BCH staff members have tested positive.

Additional restrictions are in place to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.

“We know that all patients are vulnerable, and we also know that staff are increasingly susceptible to contracting the virus by community transmission,” Ms Child said.

As a result, all routine visits to in-patient areas have been suspended.

Patients attending the emergency department will be asked not to bring visitors with them, except in exceptional circumstances.

Patients at outpatient or other ap-pointments are not to be accompanied.

Ms Child said special requests for visits can be made.

“We have put these measures in place to keep our patients and resi-dents and staff safe while supporting the provision of the highest level of care and we thank you for your co-operation,” she said.

People who are unwell are encour-aged to continue to seek medical help or attend their appointments.

Anyone with even the mildest COVID symptoms should arrange to be tested.

Testing is available at the Phillip Island Health Hub (24 hours a day), at Wonthaggi Hospital (10am-5pm, 7 days a week), and Wonthaggi Med-ical Centre Monday to Friday (book by phoning 0492 036 568 or online: www.hotdoc.com.au/medical-cen-tres/wonthaggi-VIC-3995/wonthag-gi-respiratory-clinic/doctors).

Do not leave your home while you are awaiting your test result.

Phillip Island’s U10 red team were ready and rearing to go at the start of Sunday’s practice matches between the island’s six junior footy teams. For more football coverage, see pages 19 and 20.

Rearing to go!

COVID returns to Bass CoastThree cases reported

- THE ADVERTISER, WEDnESDAy, July 15, 2020PAGE 2

3486tests done locally

3Active cases

7Local residents tested positive

Bass Coast COVID-19 update*

*From BCH Assessment clinics only.

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As Victoria’s Coronavirus crisis continues, the Member for Bass, Jordan Crugnale said everyone needs to abide by the rules.

This comes after increasing concern that people with holiday homes fled Melbourne before the midnight deadline last Tuesday, to avoid the six-week lockdown.

She urged residents of Bass Coast to remain calm, amid reports of growing confrontation between residents and holiday homeowners, online and in real life.

“I understand people are anxious again. “But it is no reason to be mean, divisive and shout at people in the street.”

However, she said people from Melbourne should not be visiting Bass Coast.

“The Premier was very clear with the direc-tions that you must stay in your principal place of residence.

“That means you cannot travel to your sec-ond home, or holiday home if it is outside of

the metropolitan council areas or Mitchell Shire area,” Ms Crugnale said.

“The directives are pretty clear, people need to abide by them or they will be fined.”

Ms Crugnale said restaurants and places where contact details are required can now ask for proof of address as can all businesses.

When the lockdown was announced, the Premier said people were allowed to finish their holidays as planned.

She said it appears some seized on this loop-hole and decided to “start” their holiday before restrictions came into effect, with reports of traffic jams on the South Gippsland Highway as people left Melbourne and headed for holi-day spots across Bass Coast.

“This is really cheeky and disunifying and doesn’t help that we are all in a tough space regardless of where we live,” Ms Crugnale said.

“Extending your ‘holiday’ does not serve the purpose of protecting regional areas with low cases and it is not one of the four reasons to leave your principal place of residence,” Ms Crugnale said.

“Many people are already doing the right thing, have gone home or are preparing to. Many of our visitors have already cancelled their restaurant bookings, tours and accom-modation.”

The DHHS website states people who live in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire must not extend their holidays beyond their original booking.

Ms Crugnale said people will be fined if it is found they came to Bass Coast after the re-strictions came into effect.

It is also not permissible to travel here from a lockdown area for recreation or exercise, such as fishing, hiking, cycling or surfing.

“Local police squads will absolutely be out in force across Victoria, including along the South Gippsland Highway and other main roads. They are out there already,” Ms Crugnale said.

“Police will utilise checkpoints, roadblocks, active police patrols, local patrols and special-ist officers at different times throughout the state – including the South Gippsland High-way – to ensure people are abiding by the di-rections of the Chief Health Officer.”

Anyone found to be in breach of the current restrictions can received a fine of $1,652 for in-dividuals and $9,913 for businesses.

The Minister for Emergency Services has re-iterated that people can report any concerns of potential breaches through the Police Assis-tance line 131 444 or online.

Pandemic is not overMs Crugnale stressed the community needs

to be “super attentive” as the coronavirus pan-demic is far from over.

“No area is immune and bringing in Stage 3 restrictions for over five million people just shows how infectious this virus is,” she said.

There are over 3000 people that cannot leave their front door at all – this is tough and intense.

“Please continue to do the right thing – main-tain physical distance, keep at the good hy-giene, get tested, follow the rules and not look for loopholes,” she urged.

“This is a community effort. We are all mes-sengers of good behaviour. We have done this before, we can do it again, we just have to con-tinue to look out for each other.

“We are a resilient, kind and generous com-munity – this is what will get us through this.”

Entering the lockdown zoneResidents of Bass Coast and other areas of

regional Victoria are being advised to only enter the Melbourne metropolitan area and Mitchell Shire if absolutely necessary.

The DHHS website said travel to the lock down zone should only be for one of three rea-sons: shopping for food and supplies, medical care and caregiving, and study or work – if you can’t do it from home.

If you need to travel through Melbourne, you should plan your trip so you don’t need to stop in an impacted area unless it is for one of the permitted three reasons.

Ms Crugnale recommended anyone moving through the lockdown area carry documentation that justifies one of the three reasons for travel.

This would include proof of an appoint-ment, a letter from your employer, or if self-employed, the contact details of who you are visiting for work related purposes.

“You would not be going to Melbourne to buy essential supplies like milk,” she said.

“If you need supplies deemed essential and you are unable to buy them online, then it is advisable to also have documentation.”

Everyone living outside of metropolitan Mel-bourne or Mitchell Shire must continue to fol-low the Stay Safe restrictions for Victoria.

“This is about limiting movement, limiting contact, limiting the spread of this virus and keeping everyone safe,” said Ms Crugnale.

“We know this is difficult but we ask all Vic-torians to apply common sense so we can stop the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) to new areas of Victoria.”

Stay safe by washing your hands regularly, coughing and sneezing into your elbow, keep-ing at least 1.5 metres from others and staying home if you feel unwell. If you have even the mildest symptoms of Coronavirus (COVID-19) – get tested

For details of current restrictions, visit www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/updated-restrictions-1159pm-wednesday-8-july-covid-19

Caravan parks, real estate agents and ac-commodation providers have recorded hun-dreds of cancellations in the wake of Mel-bourne’s six-week lockdown.

First National had 50 cancellations for holi-day rentals, with no refunds required because booking agents said they had learnt to now only take payment on arrival.

Kaloha Holiday Resort in Cowes confirmed they too had about 50 cancellations from Mel-bourne residents, adding it was “quiet as a graveyard” at the end of the last weekend.

Agents reported that Melbourne residents late last week continued to stay in rentals, but all were checking out by Friday or the weekend to complete their holidays, allowable under gov-ernment restrictions.

“The only guests we currently have staying are from Bendigo and Jan Juc, which are not hotspot locations,” said one agent.

With online bookings more popular, many op-erators said they were unable to check guests’ details until arrival, with drivers’ licences and credit cards all inspected on arrival to ensure

postcodes complied.Big4 Phillip Island Caravan Park at Newhav-

en said they had checked in new arrivals last Wednesday ahead of the lockdown, but were not taking bookings from Melbourne residents since the lockdown, with numerous cancellations.

Some agents reported that holiday home-owners were continuing to travel back and forth to Melbourne, contravening the govern-ment’s directive.

Several accommodation operators contacted by the Advertiser did not return comment.

Holiday bookings plummet

Checkpoints are operating along the South Gippsland Highway and Ms Crugnale said people will be fined if it is found they came to Bass Coast after the restrictions came into effect.

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Melbourne residents should be dobbed in for breaking COVID-19 restrictions on Phillip Island, ac-cording to a majority of voters in an Advertiser poll.

The poll, run on Facebook since last week, saw 87 per cent (from 1300 votes) support reporting to po-lice anyone contravening Premier Daniel Andrew’s stage three restric-tions, which require Melbourne resi-dents to stay in their principle place of residence.

The poll follows TV news cov-erage – and many reports on the Advertiser’s Facebook page – that Melbourne residents flocked to the island ahead of the lockdown last Wednesday night, with one online comment from a local road worker describing congestion last Wednesday as “crazy”, and the worst he’d seen.

The poll received hundreds of com-ments, including from island holiday homeowners.

Kate Crock wrote her family are Melbourne residents with an island beach house.

“We are NOT coming down any-time during lockdown, because we’re not allowed to. It’s not rocket science,” Kate said.

Adrienne Grigio said she was on the island at their family holiday house but decided to leave early last Wednesday.

“I was expecting a lot of traffi c heading back to Melbourne, expect-ing a lot of people to be leaving but totally the opposite, there were a lot coming on,” Adrienne wrote.

“I am sorry islanders have been bombarded with some people not doing the right thing. This pandemic is a concern for everyone, and every-one should be doing what’s best for communities and others, not what is best for themselves.”

Kylie Butcher said her family had stayed away from the island through the pandemic, not even visiting dur-ing the school holidays.

“Yet we see the island more as

our home than our permanent resi-dence,” Kylie said.

Shirelle Johnson said plenty of holiday homeowners were doing the “right thing” and “love and respect our place as much as the locals do”.

Fear, angerFear of contagion clearly turned to

anger, with many commenting that Melbourne residents were putting the health of rural residents at risk by travelling here, although some pointed out visitors here could be from other areas of rural Victoria.

Sue Kane said: “There are so many elderly people here who are at high risk, it’s only a matter of time before community transmission starts hap-pening.”

Sue called on Melbourne residents to obey the lockdown laws.

“It is not just locals who want it (people to obey). Daniel Andrews gave 24 hours’ notice of an impend-ing lockdown and many people took the opportunity to use that time to fl out the new laws,” Sue said.

“Large numbers of people in our supermarkets, kids running up and down the aisles, total disregard for social distancing.

“How can we remain COVID-19 free in these circumstances? ... We don’t have state of the art medical facilities. We cannot afford the pos-sibility of community transmission; we need to minimise the numbers here.”

Shona O’Dy agreed, saying the Premier had stipulated visitors could “complete your holiday if you were already on one but not start one”.

“The thousands of people fl ocking down here yesterday (last Wednes-day) were not completing them, yet that is what they will say.”

Vanna Watters said as a local resi-dent she felt no other choice but to lockdown.

“I did a big shop today and won’t leave our house for two weeks. So much for protecting the regional communities,” Vanna wrote.

“The crowds were building up all day (last week), with Cowes becom-ing busier by the hour. Supermar-kets were very busy. It felt like a long weekend or summer.”

Kerri Cavender called for people to act in the common good, rather than personal motivation.

“I truly wish we could all work to-gether and do the right thing and fol-low the rules. It is not about punish-ing people it is about protecting and saving lives,” Kerri said.

EconomySome comments responded that

for a tourist-based economy, Phillip Island could not afford to criticise holiday makers.

“A place that’s economy is based on tourism should reconsider the level of attacks I’m seeing on tour-ists,” wrote Quentin Daniel.

“Not everyone is from the lock-down zone and don’t you NEED them to survive? Dob in who? Every visitor?

“Keep it up and all the tourists will fi nd new spots to be whether they are legal or not.”

Brian Stilgoe said he was sorry to all business owners, “but it’s really not worth it”.

“I’m scared for my family,” Brian said.

“AirBnb, hotels, and caravan parks should have stepped up and stopped this happening.”

One business owner in Cowes, on another Facebook page, commented the last few months had been “really stressful”, with many working hard to keep businesses viable, yet at the same time they were “exhausted and worried about what has been an in-fl ux of people from Melbourne over the last few days”.

“It is obvious people have decid-ed they will escape Melbourne and have a holiday down here, whether they have been tested or not,” the business owner said.

“We need to look after ourselves and keep ourselves safe.”

Report COVID offenders: poll

Applications are now open for the Victorian Coastal Public Access and Risk Grants program, which helps improve coastal access and safety.

Member for Bass Jordan Crug-nale encouraged coastal Crown land managers to apply for the grants to reduce coastal risk and improve

public access.Grants of up to $80,000 are available

to develop and implement projects that reduce coastal risk through iden-tifi cation, mitigation and monitoring.

Applications close at 4pm on Mon-day, August 17.

Visit marineandcoasts.vic.gov.au

Grants to improve coastal access

The Municipal Association of Victo-ria (MAV) is once again calling on the state government to defer this year’s council elections due to the ongoing negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It believes the ongoing pandemic has impacted the ability for candidates to campaign and consult with their com-munities on vital issues.

In a recent media release, the MAV said Councils certainly don’t want to increase the public health risks to the Victorian community posed by CO-VID-19 through the election process, stating: “The principle of ‘free and fair’ local government elections is under signifi cant strain. There is a very real prospect of COVID-19 deterring many candidates from putting themselves forward to represent their community.”

MAV is urging the state government to follow the example of NSW which has delayed council elections by one year, until September 2021.

MAV President Cr Coral Ross and CEO Kerry Thompson met with newly appointed Local Government Minister, the Hon. Shaun Leane MP last Friday to raise this issue in person and ad-dress several other concerns the organ-isation has for the future of Victorian local government.

Cr Ross said that many councillors across the state have provided exam-ples of the diffi culties currently facing the local government sector and sup-port the MAV’s push for a deferral of this year’s elections.

“Following a survey of all councils and CEOs earlier this year, the MAV called for a 12-month deferral of coun-cil elections, currently scheduled for

October 2020.“With the current increase in CO-

VID-19 numbers and the subsequent wide-scale lockdown, we are calling on the Minister to reconsider holding council elections in October this year.

“Recent feedback has again high-lighted the diffi culties of ensuring a level playing fi eld for candidates cam-paigning for election to their council.”

Shared concerns“Many rural and regional councils

are highlighting concerns that some wards may not even have candidates prepared to run for election in the cur-rent environment,” said MAV’s Deputy President – Rural, Cr Ruth Gstrein.

“Diversity is a key part of a well-functioning democracy. There is a sig-nifi cant risk that many talented candi-dates won’t have the time or capacity to stand for council. This may be par-ticularly true for women and people of diverse background.”

MAV’s Deputy President – Metro, Cr Jami Klisaris supported the call.

“Deferring local government elec-tions to a time when there is the great-est choice of candidates of the highest calibre standing, is simply the most democratic thing to do – for council and community,” said Cr Klisaris.

Cr Ross said postponing the elections until 2021 was a sensible and practical decision for communities, candidates and councils.

“We have seen the NSW Government delay their elections for 12 months to provide certainty to councils, commu-nities and potential candidates.

“We are calling on the Victorian Gov-ernment to do the same.”

Defer council elections


For details go to vic.gov.au/CORONAVIRUSAuthorised and published by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne

KEEPS US

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It’s up to all of us to keep our friends and families safe.

• No more than 5 visitors at your home.

• Outside the home, families and friends can meet in groups of up to 10.

• If you do have to see people, keep your distance. No handshakes

or hugs. Maintain good hygiene. Don’t share food or drinks.

• If you’re feeling unwell - you must stay home. Don’t visit friends

and family. Don’t go on holiday. Don’t go to work. Stay home.

And if you have symptoms - get tested.

This is a wake up call. We cannot be complacent.

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Local residents are dobbing in Melbourne visitors who are breaking lockdown restric-tions, according to Island ward councillors who say they are “incensed” at the migration of Melbourne residents to Bass Coast.

Island Ward councillor Stephen Fullarton said he had received numerous phone calls from locals last Thursday who feared the last-minute exodus of suburban residents risked the health of islanders.

Channel 9 news last Wednesday reported a migration of Melburnians to Phillip Island ahead of the midnight lockdown deadline, while many drivers reported seeing congest-ed traffic headed from Melbourne to the shire, with Cowes CBD visibly busier than usual mid-week school holidays.

“Locals tell me they are already phoning the police to report anyone in holiday houses who have just arrived,” Cr Fullarton said.

“I’m hearing from a lot of people. People don’t know what to do or who to ring, and so as a councillor I get the calls. There are thousands and thousands of visitors here, an astonishing number of cars and crowds in the main street as big as summer, and it’s mid-week.

“I’m alarmed, as residents are. The com-ments are very pointed. Something has to be done to stop it. The more people who come here, the greater the risk to our community. It takes just a few seconds to get infected.

“Our local health services simply aren’t equipped to cope with any outbreak.”

Cr Fullarton said holiday homeowners “feel they have a right to come down to be here, but the directive from the government is clear, to stay at your principle place of residence”.

He added the shire was largely powerless to enforce restrictions and it was up to police to ensure lockdown rules, adding the bridge could not legally be shut, contrary to what some have suggested.

“All we can do is lobby the government to have restrictions enforced.”

“Sham”Cr Pam Rothfield said she was “incensed”

that Premier Daniel Andrews effectively gave residents in Melbourne 24 hours’ notice “to get to their holidays homes in regional Victo-ria” ahead of stage three restrictions.

“This is a sham of a lockdown. It is an at-tempt to be seen to be doing something to keep the regional areas safe, when in fact it’s a joke,” Cr Rothfield said.

“You only need to visit Cowes to see the ef-fect on the island. I am so disappointed in the state government.”

She said given that Melburnians had now travelled to all regions to be free of the re-strictions in the city, the entire state of Victo-ria should be locked down.

“It’s only a matter of time until we see cases occur here. I am furious.”

Cr Michael Whelan said he was concerned for the island’s ageing population and it was critical locals stay at home and wear masks if at all concerned, emphasising that residents should not take out anger on visitors.

“All locals can do is isolate themselves. There’s no room to approach people and yell at them. You can’t take it into your own hands,” Cr Whelan said.

“If you’re concerned people aren’t following lockdown restrictions, call the police.”

Bass Coast Shire has come under fire for in-creasing rates during Coronavirus’ economic fallout.

With no face-to-face consultation because of COVID-19, the shire instead opted to hold a Facebook live chat last week to hear feedback from ratepayers on its draft 2020/21 budget.

While some had hoped for no increase to rates, the budget proposes a two per cent increase, in keeping with the State Govern-ment’s rate cap and in line with about 70 per cent of other councils.

The average rates bill will be $1544, based on a property re-evaluation at the start of this year, which saw properties increase by an av-erage four per cent.

However, rates also include garbage charg-es, which this year cop a whopping 11 per cent increase to $496.50, making Bass Coast’s one of the highest in Victoria.

Ratepayer Ray Webb joined the Facebook chat, saying he was “not happy with the in-crease in garbage charges.

“We pensioners need a hand up, not to be in the dump, seriously not good enough,” Ray commented.

Cheryle Mccoy reiterated the sentiment, writing “the rubbish incremental increase is appalling considering no weekly pickup in holiday times”.

Bluey Gallagher agreed saying he was un-happy “with any rate increase in the middle of a pandemic”.

Mayor Brett Tessari responded to Bluey, ex-plaining councillors considered a zero per cent rate rise “however it would’ve had an approxi-mate $11 million impact on our 10-year long term financial plan”.

“We have proposed a two per cent rate rise (still within the rate cap) which allows us to offer direct support and assistance to those most affected by the pandemic through both our hardship policy and other COVID-19 as-sistance measures.”

The budget dedicates a total of $4 million in financial support to those hit by the economic impact of Coronavirus.

Alex Emery urged councillors and shire number crunchers to “read the room”, saying the state and Federal governments were hand-ing out money to “prop people and the econo-my up”, yet the shire was “just going to take it back with the other hand”.

Souvanny Thai asked how small business was to survive with increasing costs yet no tourism.

Levinus Van Der Neut argued council should not build the “new super dooper” Cowes Cul-ture Centre to save about $19 million.

The budget allocates $28 million into capital works, including for Phillip Island planning for a community pool, a new transfer station, Cowes Cultural Centre redevelopment, and upgrades at Anderson Road boat ramp and Rhyll jetty area.

Deb Montague called on ratepayers to “re-member this when the election comes around” in October.

Rates and garbageAccording to the draft budget, households

will pay $496.50 for the privilege of kerbside waste removal.

This is an 11 per cent increase, up from $449, following another 11 per cent hike the previ-ous year.

In 2018 we paid $374 for garbage charges.

By contrast, neighbouring shire South Gippsland in their draft 20-21 budget are expect-ed to pay a $217 garbage charge, a rise of $10.

The average rate bill rises to $1544 across 32,115 rateable properties in the shire.

A revaluation of all properties was carried out in January and will apply for the 2020-2021 year, with an average four per cent rise.

Of this increase, residential properties have increased by 3.6 per cent, farms by 5.4 per cent, commercial properties by 4.7 per cent, in-dustrial properties by 4.6 per cent and vacant properties by 7.2 per cent.

In real terms, total rates – including the $496.50 garbage charge and two per cent rate cap – will be 3.3 per cent.

Last year the real increase was 4.25 per cent, while the budget forecasts the ‘21-‘22 increase will be five per cent, followed by further hits of 5.6 per cent (‘22-‘23) and 5.5 per cent (in ‘23-‘24).

Rates and charges this year will total $64.5 million, rising to $75.6 million in 2023.

State-wide the Consumer Price Index is fore-cast to be 2.25 per cent in 2020-21.

Have your sayThe draft budget will be open for public com-

ment and submissions until Tuesday July 21.Council will receive and hear submis-

sions from the public at a special meeting on July 29.

The final 2020/21 budget will be presented at the council meeting on August 19.

Due to COVID-19 the shire will not hold a drop-in session, as in prior years.

Instead there was an on-line Facebook fo-rum where the community could give input and ask questions.

Copies of the draft 2020/21 budget are avail-able for inspection at: Bass Coast Civic Centre (airlock) Wonthaggi or Grantville Transaction Centre, 1504-1510 Bass Hwy

The budget can also be downloaded from www.basscoast.vic.gov.au/budget or request a copy by mail, by phoning 1300 BCOAST (226 278) or (03) 5671 2211.

According to the shires’ draft budget, households will pay $496.50 for the privilege of kerbside waste removal, an 11 per cent increase, up from $449, following another 11 per cent hike the previous year. In 2018 we paid $374 for garbage charges.

Ratepayer fury at rate, garbage hike

According to drivers’ comments on social media and TV news, there was a last-minute migra-tion of Melbourne residents to Phillip Island ahead of the midnight lockdown deadline last Wednesday. Cowes was visibly busier than usual mid-week school holidays.

Councillors “furious” at Melbourne influx


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$1.40 Incl. GSTWEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2020Your Community Voice!

IT’S hard not to feel overwhelmed as every part of our lives is impacted by the threat of COVID-19.

Times are changing.In the past week, we’ve spoken to local

business owners, sports clubs, schools and doctors.

Everyone has been trying to work out the best way to adjust to this new world order.

What struck me most was how often they spoke about the need to work together, look out for each other, and come together as a community, despite their own difficulties.

The Advertiser is the voice of our com-munity.

Although we’ll be making some changes, including working from home, rest assured we will be here, every day, telling your sto-ries and supporting our community in any way we can.

Even if the office looks empty, we will be working and bringing you the most up-to-date local information available, either on-line or in print.

You can contact us on the numbers and emails below.

The Advertiser is not immune to the im-pact of the virus, so you may see a smaller paper over this time, but it will still be avail-able at any of the usual outlets that remain open, or you can read it online.

The local newsagent can also organise to have it delivered to your door.

Stay safe and look out for each other.

Contact the Advertiser on 5952 3201.News, stories, letters to the editor: [email protected] bookings: [email protected] and public notices: [email protected] subscriptions at: pisra.com.au.Follow us on Facebook: @PISRadvertiser.

AS we went to print, the first case of COVID-19 in Bass Coast was confirmed. Even before this, the impact of coronavirus had hit the community hard – especially businesses – in the past week.

While supermarket shelves continued to be stripped by shoppers, sporting and commu-nity clubs took unprecedented steps last week, announcing they would close or have limited events.

Phillip Island Football Club, for example, suspended activi-ties until May, postponing train-ing indefinitely, while the CFA last Tuesday announced it had suspended all non-emergency activities (see full report inside paper).

Even before the state govern-ment announced that Victorian schools would close on Tues-day, last week Newhaven Col-lege alerted parents the school would “plan for a possible clo-sure” and trial a learning from home program from today

(Wednesday).However, the real impact of the

virus was on the local economy, with some companies estimat-ing up to $100,000 initial lost revenue, inevitable job losses, especially for casual employees, and months of lost trade.

On Monday, the state govern-ment announced a Stage 1 shut down of business that included pubs, clubs, nightclubs, and licensed venues in hotels and pubs. It also included gyms, indoor sporting venues, places of worship, cinemas and enter-tainment venues. Restaurants and cafes will only be allowed to provide home delivery or take-away services.

The government said any business remaining open must conform to the social distanc-ing measures, such as ensuring there were four square metres for each person in the prem-ises and less than 100 people indoors.

The federal government has recommended that all non-es-

sential domestic travel be can-celled, which is sure to further impact on local business.

This comes on top of the im-pact of the Chief Medical Officer advice restricting gatherings of 100 people indoors and 500 people outdoors, social distanc-ing measures and travel bans for international tourists.

PINPPhillip Island Nature Parks

staff have reported concern for their roles following an emer-gency management meeting last week.

Some staff are believed to have been asked to take leave, with unconfirmed reports redundan-cies were being mooted.

A PINP spokesman said they could not provide specific com-ment.

However, after last week an-nouncing operations at a re-duced capacity, a statement posted on their website on Sun-day said all attractions would close from 5pm on Monday.

Event businessesOne of the businesses hit hard-

est in the past fortnight is Over the Top Events in Cowes, which pro-vides marquees, tables, chairs, crockery and party infrastructure to an average annual 100 wed-dings and 50 major events.

Owner Kristie Cameron said she was “numb” and “teary” af-ter losing a chunk of this year’s business in the past fortnight, because their company was “de-pendent on big crowds”.

She estimated the cost to the business was already up to $100,000 in lost revenue.

“Any public event between now and October has been can-celled,” Kristie said.

This includes last weekend’s RACV family members’ days at Churchill Island “which we’re hoping will be rescheduled”, as well as the Anzac Day dawn ser-vice, Wonthaggi’s human-pow-ered grand prix and all work for Phillip Island Nature Parks.

Continued page 2

Even before the first case in Bass Coast was confirmed on Monday, the impact of coronavirus was being felt right across Phillip Island and San Remo. Photo courtesy of Phillip Island Helicopters.

Virus hits local businesses, jobs

We’re in this together

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SPACIOUS, PRIVATE & ON 1 ACRE

Conservationists have called for the environmental consultation pro-cess for AGL’s proposed gas termi-nal in Western Port to be suspended during COVID-19 restrictions.

At about 10,000 pages, the En-vironment Effects Statement is so large and complex it needs to be tackled collaboratively, according to Environment Victoria community or-ganiser Victor Komarovsky.

He said since stage three restric-tions were implemented for Mel-bourne last week, EV had to cancel in-person events to help navigate people through the EES.

“The EES should be in lockdown with the people who need to partici-pate in it,” Victor told the Advertiser.

“Find me a person who can read and understand 10,000 pages of technical documentation on their own. It actually requires a commu-nity coming together.”

He said not all people who wanted to make a submission could work online collaboratively, “including people on French Island who don’t have good internet”.

“It’s impossible to take part collab-oratively, which is unacceptable so the public exhibition period should be immediately suspended until the end of restrictions.”

Phillip Island Conservation Society president Jeff Nottle urged any locals wanting to take part in the EES pro-cess to contact PICS, especially any-one with specialist expertise.

PICS has written to Victorian Plan-ning Minister also urging him to suspend the EES until the end of CO-VID-19 restrictions.

“We firmly believe that effective community engagement in this pro-cess is not possible during the cur-rent Government measures designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Jeff wrote.

“Our community is deeply con-cerned about the potential adverse economic, environmental and social impacts of this project on Phillip Island and the broader Bass Coast communities.

“To pursue the original EES timeta-ble for community engagement that was introduced prior to COVID-19 is simply inappropriate and would re-sult in a significantly flawed outcome that would not be representative of community concerns or input.”

Jeff said PICS would be writing their own submission and would be able to provide pointers to those needing help, but also encouraged submitters to take part in Environ-ment Victoria’s online submission writing forums.

AGL responseAn AGL spokesman said the com-

pany understood and acknowledged “the community’s concern that con-tinuing an EES process during the period of social isolation presents challenges”.

“That said, we do believe that a thorough and comprehensive engagement process can still be achieved in this environment,” he said.

“We are committed to following the process the State Government deems appropriate and will work with both the State Government and the community to facilitate access to information for communities.”

ProcessThe EES is open until August 26

for the project that will see a float-ing storage and regasification unit (FSRU), moored at Crib Point jetty.

The FSRU will regasify liquid nat-ural gas by using a heat exchange system, taking in millions of litres of seawater per day, discharging it colder or warmer than the ambient temperature and containing residual chlorine.

AGL’s plans would see liquified natural gas transported on up to 40 LNG super tankers – about 300 me-tres long and 49 metres wide – per year from interstate and overseas.

The FSRU would be approximate-ly 300m long by 50m wide with ca-pacity to store 170,000 cubic metres (m3) of LNG.

Submissions will be reviewed by an Inquiry and Advisory Committee, formed by the Victorian Planning Minister Richard Wynne.

The IAC will review the public submissions, then hold a directions hearing on September 17, which will lead to a public hearing on October 12, to run for up to eight weeks.

Details https://www.gasimportpro-jectvictoria.com.au/ and follow the EES links.

Jackson Clements Burrows, the architectural firm chosen to design the Cowes Cultural and Community Centre has added to its award tally.

Last week, the firm picked up three awards and one commendation at the Victorian Architecture Awards.

Their work at Gillies Hall at Monash University picked up two awards (architecture and interior ar-chitecture) and one commendation (sustainable architecture).

Their Sable Drop Terrace project received the Joseph Reed Award for urban design.

The company was awarded the $1.4 million tender for the Cultural Centre project in May. The contract is for a 21-month term.

The whole project is expected to cost $19 million, with the public ten-der for construction set to begin in February 2021. Construction is due

to commence in May 2021.Demolition of the current building,

on the corner of Church Street and Thompson Avenue, is due late July or August.

Members of Phillip Island Voice and the Bass Coast Residents and Ratepayers Association have de-scribed the plans for demolition as premature, saying there should be more public consultation, also ques-tioning the merit of building in un-certain economic times.

The Cowes Cultural and Commu-nity Centre has been the subject of proposed development since an orig-inal master plan in 2005.

The new centre will house the shire offices and library, as well as groups including genealogy, and the historical society, an art and craft gallery, theatre, café, meeting rooms and function spaces.

The three-box set of documents for the Environment Effects Statement are each up to 400 pages.

Bay gas project EES should be paused

Jackson Clements Burrows, who will design the new Cowes Cultural Centre won three awards at this year’s Victorian Architecture Awards, including two for Gillies Hall at Monash University.

More awards for Cultural Centre architects


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A security door can not only enhance the appearance of your home, it will provide protection against theft and break-ins.

Stay Safe Security Doors is a new company owned by Cow-es resident Brett Burrows.

With over 10-years’ expe-rience in the security door industry, Brett is perfectly placed to provide advice on the best options for your prop-erty.

The company is the autho-rised dealer for Prowler Proof, a Brisbane based company specialising in state-of-the-art security doors and window screens.

“Prowler Proof have a very unique system,” explained Brett.

“They’re the only security door on the market with an aluminium welded frame. There are no screws or rivets which provides a nice seam-less finish.

“There are three locking points in the door – not just a single lock in the centre. That makes it much more secure.”

The company has pioneered a chemical bond to secure the mesh in the door, which elimi-nates contact corrosion be-tween metal and screws.

Brett said not only do the doors look great, they come with a 10-year full replace-ment warranty.

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Let Stay Safe Security Doors provide peace of mind and help ensure your home or holiday house is fully secure.

Phillip Island gym op-erators say they expect Melbourne residents will continue to try to access club member-ship, despite COVID-19 restrictions.

But YMCA manager Rebecca Wilson said they will be enforcing a strict postcode policy on any would-be gym junkies.

“The biggest chal-lenge will be people who consider them-selves local, but who transition between here and Melbourne all the time. They’ll be hard to say you’re not welcome, but we have to follow the government’s re-strictions, which stipu-late the postcode on their drivers’ licence,” Rebecca said.

“Even someone from Melbourne who has been living and working here during Coronavi-rus will not be allowed to use the facilities be-cause the government restrictions are clear, it’s about the principle place of residence.

“We are a big organisation and can’t afford any outbreak.”

The YMCA leisure centre only re-opened again on June 29, with members allowed to opt in, maintain the membership suspension, or attend casually on a reduced fee.

The centre, which is council-owned, has re-stricted hours from 6-10am and 4-8pm because few members are attending.

Because only 20 members are allowed at any one time, the YMCA requires bookings of 50 minutes, with members required to wipe down and sanitise between workouts, with a full 10 minute clean at the end of each hour. Group classes have been reduced to 45 minutes.

Many of their members are older and Re-becca said prior to Melbourne’s new lock-

down, she anticipated many would wait to reinstate membership once school holidays finished.

“Now I don’t think they’ll come back until they feel more comfort-able.”

Temperature checkGrip Fitness manager

Jay Milford-Robertson said they were follow-ing similar protocols in their 24/7 gym, tem-perature testing during open, staffed hours, which were usually the busiest.

He said staff were “constantly” wiping equipment, with mem-bers also required to wipe after use and bring their own towels.

“We’re going through so many paper towels. Every morning I empty the bins which are full, so people are clearly

doing the right thing out of hours, which is good to see,” Jay said.

Members at Grip Fitness are also required to book during peak class times, 6-7pm, to cap numbers at 20.

Jay said while they continued to take ca-sual members, staff were checking all drivers’ licences and not allowing anyone from Mel-bourne.

My 24/7 Gym at San Remo had similar pro-tocols, explaining they would ban access to anyone from lockdown areas.

Staff at the gym were cleaning equipment through the day, with gym users required to wash hands regularly, use the hand sanitiser and wipe down equipment before and after use using antibacterial wipes provided.

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Safe and secureGym entry restricted to safe postcodes

YMCA staff member Narelle Lindner is protected behind a Perspex barrier, in front of a notice urging any gym member to not attend the centre if feeling unwell.

The YMCA has posted this notice on their front door, clearly detailing who is and isn’t allowed based on current CO-VID-19 restrictions.

Over 4000 indigenous plants will be planted at Cowes and Silverleaves to address en-croachment into foreshore reserves.

Bass Coast Shire Council will complete revegetation works across five foreshore sites, planting over 4000 indig-enous plant species, sourced from local nurseries.

This planting is a being done as part of the council’s en-croachment program, which aims to rehabilitate foreshore vegetation that has been cleared without authorisation.

Bass Coast Shire Mayor, Cr

Brett Tessari said council has taken a stand on encroach-ment into public conservation reserves.

“These unauthorised activi-ties reduce the natural values of our conservation reserves which are treasured by so many,” Cr Tessari said.

“Native vegetation also provides important habitat for wildlife and protects the coastline from changing cli-matic conditions.”

He said an extensive audit of council managed conservation reserves was conducted over the last year, to determine the

level of encroachment. This data has informed on-ground works, such as the removal of unauthorised items from pub-lic reserves and identifying ar-eas for revegetation.

Cr Tessari said council will continue to work closely with landholders to resolve en-croachment issues and reha-bilitate degraded sites.

In 2018, Bass Coast Shire Council adopted the Fore-shore and Bushland Reserves Encroachment Policy, to pro-vide long-term strategic di-rection to manage ongoing encroachment issues.

4000 ways to preserve foreshores


The new visitor centre at the Pen-guin Parade has won the prestigious William Wardell Award for Public Architecture at this year’s Victorian Architecture Awards.

The centre, designed by architec-ture firm Terroir, also won the award for the best regional architecture.

The awards are designed to show-case the best architecture in the state.

Phillip Island Nature Parks CEO Catherine Basterfield said the award was some good news at the end of a difficult week.

She said the building which opened a year ago makes a big statement, and was designed as part of a master-plan for the Summerland Peninsula.

“It’s a beautiful building and that really was the brilliance of Terroir. They challenged some of our prin-cipals in that masterplan until they achieved something functional and beautiful – within the budget, which was important.

“They were fantastic to work with.”Ms Basterfield said the previous

building was merely a gateway to the parade, while the new building catered more fully for the volume of visitors coming throughout the year.

“When we opened, it was incred-ible to watch people walk into the building and the awe on their faces.

“The first thing they did was look up. Then the cameras came out and

people started taking photos of the roof structure.”

It’s not just visitors who appreciate the new building.

“The staff experience has improved phenomenally,” said Ms Basterfield.

“We were lacking even basic ame-nity in the old building. Staff are very proud of the place and space they work in and it shows in the pride they take in their work.”

She congratulated the team from Terroir for their win.

“Scott Balmforth (Principle and Director at Terroir) was the lead ar-chitect. He did an incredible job and put together an incredible team to work through the design process.

“The Kane Construction project team were also incredible in bring-ing it to fruition.”

Ms Basterfield said there were “quite a few people we’d like to thank for bringing attention to the Penguin Parade in this way.”

She made special note of the con-tribution of Dave McPeak (Terroir), Tristan Forster and Ben Barrett from Kane Constructions, Gareth Phillips from AECOM and Damian Prender-gast, the Nature Parks Project Manager.

This is the second award Terroir has received for the visitor centre building.

In 2019 it took out the Interna-tional Architecture Awards in the Parks and Gardens category, out of

a field of over 380 submissions from 41 countries.

Parade still openMs Basterfield said the 100-per-

son limit remained in place at the Penguin Parade and the lockdown in metropolitan Melbourne had im-pacted on bookings.

“We were booked out up until Monday and have a hold on new bookings until we get everyone’s re-fund sorted.

“We will be opening bookings back up for regional Victorians shortly.”

She said a large volume of book-ings had to be refunded and that staff were still working through that.

When local resident Meg Ander-son submitted a question to last month’s Council meeting about the Ventnor off-leash area, she said the last thing she was trying to do was force dogs off beaches.

Her intention was to ask Council to consider reviewing the boundar-ies and the timing of the off-leash area, to provide additional protec-tion for wildlife, including the Hood-ed Plovers.

“What I wanted was for Bass Coast Shire Council to do more to support the birds and make the whole situa-tion better,” said Meg.

“I wanted to know what their strat-egy was to improve things.”

Despite her aim to make Ventnor Beach a safe and enjoyable place for all – people, dogs and native wildlife – the question sparked a community uproar.

Local dog owners claimed it was part of a campaign to roll back the off-leash beach areas.

As a result, a Phillip Island Dog Owners Association was formed, to provide a united voice for dog own-ers across the island (see separate story).

Debate also raged on social media, with personal attacks on Meg, leav-ing her fearful and upset.

“I am sorry I inflamed the whole dog situation. It was not my inten-tion to upset everybody,” she said.

“I feel deeply upset about that.”

MisrepresentedAlthough Meg had been in contact

with shire officers and had emailed a local councillor, she said there was no context provided around her question at the council meeting.

She said she had hoped to remove the confusion and conflict, not shut down the off-leash area..

“My proposal was intended to both encourage Council to more actively manage and monitor the new 24/7 off-leash beach in view of the Hood-ed Plover refuge on it, and largely also to improve the experience for dog walkers who have been inconve-nienced by the refuge,” she said.

“However, I have unfortunately upset the very people I was trying to help, which of course was never my intention.”

Her proposal included shifting the boundary of the off-leash area 100 metres to the west and installing im-proved signage.

In an email sent to Cr Michael Whelan prior to the meeting, Meg asked if Council would consider a range of solutions, including adjust-ing the boundaries.

“Move the boundaries of the dogs off-leash section 100m or so to the west, so that the beach either side of the Graydens Road steps becomes ON-leash only, with the dogs-off-leash section starting at the rocky point in line with Ford Street. And to compensate for this, extend the western boundary further west to the point in line with Elizabeth Cove Close, which has a car park of the same size but is more accessible than Graydens Road as it does not involve steps.”

Her suggestions also included im-proved signage, increased patrols and the option for reducing the off-leash hours during the Hooded Plo-ver breeding season.

“The current signage is confusing and poor, and people don’t under-stand where the boundaries are,” Meg said.

“Officers I spoke to acknowledged they needed to have more of a pres-ence in the area and I wanted to mo-tivate Council to do more work and ensure their local laws are complied

with.”Over summer, Meg said she spent

hundreds of hours on the beach as a volunteer to safeguard the Hooded Plovers and their chicks. She said during the six-month breeding sea-son, at least a third of the off-leash beach is part of the Hooded Plover refuge.

“This has proven to be not ideal for dog walkers, because, as they are re-quired to leash their dogs within 50m of the refuge, they have effectively ‘lost’ part of the off-leash beach dur-ing that six month period,” Meg said.

During the breeding season, she spoke to many dog owners and she said the vast majority of them agreed with moving the boundary to provide extra protection for the little birds.

She believes shifting the boundary would provide dog walkers “a lon-ger and straighter stretch of beach all year round on which to walk/run their dogs off leash”.

Last week, she spoke to Greg Price, the convenor of the Phillip Is-land Dog Owners Association, and said they both agree lack of compli-ance is an issue on the beach.

She believes with sensible rules, adequate enforcement, and proper signage, the shared beach could be a good experience for everyone.

“If people do the right thing, we will all be happy,” she said.

The first meeting of the newly formed Phillip Island Dog Owners Association on July 11 saw ten peo-ple gather at the front of the Cowes Cultural Centre, while dozens more watched online.

Meeting numbers were limited to 10, due to the current Coronavirus restrictions.

The meeting voted to proceed with formally incorporating the group, establish a statement of purpose and set a date of August 16 for the An-nual General Meeting.

Convenor Greg Price said the pur-pose of the group was to “raise our voice” and keep up dialogue with dog owners across all areas of the island, including San Remo, as well as com-municate to government.

Greg said the group would “make sure we are heard in the local gov-ernment elections” and vowed to” keep dogs front and centre – as they are in our lives”.

Island Ward candidate Ronnie Bauer attended the meeting, pledg-ing his support for the group, al-though he said calls to postpone the election until 2021 had re-emerged with the latest lockdown in metro-politan Melbourne.

Clear purposeThe meeting ratified an official

statement of purpose which said the group had formed “to provide a united voice to all levels of government with regards to policies and by-laws relat-

ing to dogs in the Bass Coast region and to ensure the current off-leash areas are maintained and improved.”

Members agreed to leave the in-terim committee in place, with the positions of President, Vice Presi-dent, Secretary and Treasurer to be formally elected at the AGM.

As the Interim President, Greg Price was authorised to organise in-corporating the association, saying his business – Alex Scott Real Estate in Cowes – would donate the fee re-quired for the incorporation.

Over 80 people reacted to the video, with more than 100 comments posted.

The Facebook page, which was established last month has already attracted over 920 followers. It was formed in response to a question posed at last month’s council meeting, which resulted in Council voting to clamp down on dog owners at Ventnor’s off-leash beach to protect hooded plovers.

Meg Anderson, the resident who submitted the question has said her question was misinterpreted and she was simply calling for a review of the boundary area and improve-ments to signage, to lessen conflict and confusion (see separate story).

The fee for membership of the newly formed group was set at $5. Payments can be made at Alex Scott & Staff in Cowes and Cape Winds in San Remo.

For more visit the Phillip Island Dog Owners Association Face-book page. www.facebook.com/groups/2693561210926617

United voice for dogs The proposal from local resident Meg Anderson included moving the bound-ary of the current off-leash area 100m west, away from the Hooded Plover refuge area.

A beach for everyone

Greg Price convened a meeting to establish the Phillip Island Dog Owners Association via a live Facebook video, due to Coronavirus restrictions.

The Penguin Parade visitor centre has received two awards at this year’s Victorian Architecture Awards, including one for best public architecture.

Parade building Victoria’s best


– A D V E R T I S M E n T –

Well you would have to agree that the first part of 2020 was not what anybody expected the year to be.

The imposed Covid 19 lockdown has forced us to alter our behaviors in many ways not only with social distancing and hygiene but the adoption of using new online technologies like Skype and Zoom to stay in touch with friends and family and for some, the workplace.

The lockdown not only wreaked hav-oc on the economy but also on people’s emotions. We are by nature, social beings and this separation not only gave you time to reflect, but makes you aware of the importance we do place on commu-nity, even at a subconscious level.

I noticed this myself when I went out walking around my neighborhood, people you would come across on the footpath would move to one side, careful not to infringe on the 1.5metre social distanc-ing requirements, but at the same time you could feel a warmth or connection in a smile that would be exchanged enforc-ing the idea that, yes, we ARE all in this together.

And other people I have spoken to have also experienced a coming together in the sense of community in the aftermath of the lockdown.

This sense of community has brought people back to “local” even when pur-chasing goods and services online, which on reflection seems to be a contradiction because when you hear the word “online”

you immediately think of the World Wide Web.

But what it really means is businesses that show they have an understanding of the community that they are serving, are rewarded by that community.

If you have been listening to the radio you would have heard the numerous commercials by businesses jumping on the remote servicing bandwagon to take advantage of peoples dependence of hav-ing to resort to buying goods and services online but without the proof that they are truly active within the community, it

may just become more commercial back-ground noise.

However there is one legal firm that has operated with regional communities in mind, and servicing them remotely for some time now.

It was in 2006, that James McConvill & Associates took the decision to ditch the big inner city fancy offices, in favor of re-ally reaching out to communities in re-gional areas who they thought had been forgotten, when it came to providing ex-pert legal advice with a local understand-ing of their community.

This meant that now all regional areas around Victoria could benefit from the wealth of experience that their lawyers have gained over time.

It has given them a thorough under-standing of the type of legal problems that people in regional areas face and how they can apply the legal strategies they have in their arsenal to really help people in these communities.

And being one of the very first legal firms to service clients remotely all over Victoria has enabled James McConvill & Associates to become the leaders in this method of providing legal advice throughout the Phillip Island and San Remo area, putting them at the forefront of remote legal servicing.

Through the use of technology, over the past 14 years they have developed reli-able and proven systems of remote ser-vicing within the legal field.

The use of these systems have enabled James McConvill & Associates to provide their clients cost effective legal services covering the many areas such as: Crimi-nal Law, General Family Law, Parenting Rights, Separation, Property Rights, and Business Law.

So if you need legal advice and you want a firm that fully understands the chal-lenges that regional communities face, you can always turn to James McConvill & Associates.

If you need to, you can contact them on 1800 987 923

The lockdown phenomenon

The phenomenon present in many communities during the lockdown

Some struggling local businesses and or-ganisations will receive a much-needed boost this week, with Bass Coast Shire Council an-nouncing the recipients of its $700,000 Busi-ness and Community Resilience Grants Pro-gram.

Council said the program will distribute the $700,000 across 133 businesses and commu-nity groups.

The full list of recipients is due to be re-leased this week.

Council received 264 applications for the program, which was developed earlier in the year in direct response to the COVID-19 pan-demic, to help businesses and not-for-profit organisations in Bass Coast recover from the impacts it has had on the community.

Groups and business owners were invited to apply for grants of between $1,000 and $30,000 for projects and initiatives that would help them and the community to adapt and recover from the pandemic.

Community representatives were part of a Leadership Recovery Group which helped develop the program and evaluate the appli-cations.

The group has 11 Phillip Island and San Remo members, including footy coach Beau Vernon, Ventnor farmer Anne Davie, South Coast Bus managing director Michael Wright and A Maze’N Things owner Geoff Moed.

Bass Coast Shire Mayor, Cr Brett Tessari said it was fantastic to see so many passionate

community leaders come together to collabo-rate with Council towards a common goal.

“This is truly a community-led initiative that we are all proud to be part of,” Cr Tessari said.

“A lot of work went on behind the scenes to determine the successful applicants. I would like to thank the council officers involved, as well as our Community Leadership Recovery Group, for the long hours they put in assess-ing the grant applications.

“It was a highly competitive program and the large amount of applications we received meant that this process took a little longer than we had planned, but the final outcome is really positive.”

Cr Tessari said that it was understandable that there will be disappointment among the applicants that weren’t successful.

“As part of the Working for Victoria pro-gram, we now have some additional team members who will be able to work with these businesses and groups and will provide them with ongoing support as we navigate through these challenging times,” Cr Tessari said.

“We have a really resilient community here in Bass Coast. I look forward to seeing some of the great initiatives come to fruition, to help our community recover and come back stronger than ever.”

A summary of the successful applications will be posted on Council’s website www.basscoast.vic.gov.au/resiliencegrants

Boost for business

Plastic Free Phillip Island & San Remo is a finalist in this years Keep Victoria Beauti-ful Sustainable Communities Tidy Towns Awards!

The team behind the initiative said the nomination recognised the fantastic efforts of the community to reduce single-use plastics.

Plastic Free Phillip Island & San Remo has also held Clean Up Australia Day events on the Cowes foreshore and seafloor, removing over 450kg of rubbish during the two events.

The group is supported by Westernport

Water and Phillip Island Nature Parks.Congratulations to everyone involved.The award winners will be announced on

September 5.The Sustainable Communities – Tidy

Towns Awards recognise, celebrate and share grassroots initiatives and positive ac-tions taken by community groups, educa-tional institutions, businesses and councils in rural and regional areas in Victoria.

Details www.kvb.org.au/tidy-towns/tidy_towns2020_finalists/

Plastic Free in the finals

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CORONAVIRUS LATEST LOCAL INFORMATION

When Premier Daniel Andrews last week announced holiday makers from Melbourne could finish their holidays before returning to lockdown, it unleashed confusion for traders.

Restaurants and cafes on Phillip Island were among the businesses most impacted by the confused message, with many uncer-tain whether school holidays ended officially last Sunday, or Sunday July 19, which was the extended date made by the Premier in his an-nouncement of the Melbourne lockdown.

While accommodation businesses were able to more clearly follow restriction guidelines, with most tourists generally booking weeks in advance, restaurants generally operate on short notice.

Citrus & Vine’s Sarah Pedersen said it was a “shade of grey” and difficult to enforce drivers’ licence checks.

“We actually don’t know what to do,” she said.“I support Daniel Andrews in what he’s trying

to do to stop the pandemic, but to tell people to finish their holidays and then see the influx migrate to the island ahead of the lockdown deadline, it makes it very confused and difficult.

“How can we as a business on the island try to protect everyone here and in regional Vic-toria? We don’t want to break the law and we certainly don’t want to be put in the predica-ment of contracting the virus.”

She questioned whether they were also re-quired to request a customer licence check for takeaway meals.

Other venues on the island said they were still seeing Melbourne residents in restau-rants, who “had been on the island prior to lockdown, which is allowable”.

Sarah said last weekend was their final op-portunity to make money, with half of all book-

ings in the next six weeks cancelled.Cr Stephen Fullarton said Melbourne’s lock-

down was a “double edged sword” for traders.“Our economy relies on tourism and hospi-

tality, but health-wise we can’t afford to take any risks. We simply don’t have the medical facilities to cope,” he said.

KnuckleheadsSan Remo Fishermen’s Co-op manager Paul

Mannix said with the start of the lockdown he expected business would slow down “even though it sounds like some people have bent the rules by scooting down here”.

He said the Co-op maintained ongoing pro-tocols, continuing take-away only, social dis-tancing, sanitiser on entry and no cash, card only payment.

“Right from the start we tried to be as safe as we could, for the benefit of our customers, our staff and our commercial fishermen too,” Paul said.

“In general our safety policies have worked quite well, other than having to deal with the odd knucklehead who acts like COVID doesn’t even exist.”

Fork n Waffle’s Ben White confirmed last Thursday they were still seeing Melbourne customers.

“But they are still on their holidays so they are allowed to be here. We are not checking any more than the required mobile upon entry. If I need to hire another person to check IDs it would be ridiculous,” said Ben, reminding customers they would permanently close from July 19 because of the economic hit from the pandemic.

“The rules are in place, we can only hope they follow them.”

Police say anyone who ar-rived in Bass Coast before the lockdown restrictions came into place at midnight on July 8 is entitled to stay.

This is despite concerns of increased risk of infection, due to holiday homeowners arriving last week after the Premier Daniel Andrews an-nounced a lockdown in met-ropolitan Melbourne.

Senior Sergeant David Fyfe, Acting Bass Coast Outstation Manager is responsible for po-lice in Cowes and San Remo and he said the Premier had clearly stated people from the lockdown area were allowed to complete their holidays.

“There is no enforceable ac-tion for someone on holiday at the present time,” said Snr Sergeant Fyfe.

“They are entitled to com-plete their holidays as long as they comply with the stay safe restrictions.”

While he understood that many people were concerned, he stressed there was “nothing improper with someone having an extended holiday on the is-land” provided they had arrived before the midnight deadline.

“These are unprecedented times for everyone in the com-munity. I would encourage people to check the informa-tion that’s available about the conditions for travel.”

He reiterated there were check points in place outside of Melbourne, to check any-one travelling outside of the stay-at-home areas, as well as points along the South Gippsland Highway near Lang Lang.

He confirmed there were no plans for police to monitor or check cars coming across the Phillip Island Bridge.

“Checks at the bridge are not going to happen at the mo-

ment,” he said.“The island will not be sub-

ject to separate traffic man-agement points to the rest of the municipality.”

However he said people could take comfort from Victo-ria Police presence at the edg-es of the lockdown area and they are “checking and enforc-ing the exemptions to travel”.

On Friday, Chief Commis-sioner Shane Patton said a couple from Docklands were stopped at two different checkpoints, attempting to get to their Phillip Island holiday house at 1.30am.

He reported the pair were turned away at one vehicle checkpoint and given a warn-ing, and then attempted to re-route before being stopped at a second vehicle checkpoint.

“The driver was issued with a fine, and we are planning to fine the passenger as well,” he said.

Visible presenceSnr Sergeant Fyfe said police

would be visible across the is-land, including continuing to work with Phillip Island Nature Parks to ensure stay-safe re-quirements were being met at attractions and lookout areas.

He dismissed rumours that local police had been diverted to the metropolitan area to bolster numbers.

“I’m not aware of any per-sonnel diversions to assist in operations outside of our own police service area,” he said.

“There will be a continual presence – proactive patrols – to ensure people are adhering to the stay safe restrictions.”

Stay safe restrictions in-clude social distancing of 1.5 metres, a maximum of five visitors to your home at any one time, and only 10 people at public gatherings.

Snr Sergeant Fyfe said traf-

fic coming into the area would be monitored and “all existing mechanism for police to inter-sect and check motorists” would be used to ensure people were complying with the restrictions.

However, he stressed there were exemptions available for travel.

“Someone appearing on the island is not itself proof of a breach,” he said.

“Everyone will need to jus-tify their need for travel and if a person is travelling out-side of the approved reasons, they’re likely to be issued with a $1652 infringement.”

He said reports of vigilante talk on social media were dis-turbing and warned against any anti-social or criminal be-haviour.

“Whatever your justification might be, if your actions con-stitute a criminal offence, you will be subject to prosecution.”

He said the best thing every-one could do was to look after their own health and wellbe-ing and get tested if they feel unwell.

“It’s more important for people to take responsibil-ity for their own actions,” Snr Sergeant Fyfe said.

“People may find justifica-tions to act outside of the rec-ommendations and directions of the Chief Health Officer, but there would be few times when an individual’s actions had such potential to have consequences for the wider community.”

Snr Sergeant Fyfe said any-one concerned about illegal activity or people breaking restrictions should contact the police, either via Triple Zero (000), online, or through the Police Assistance Line 131 444.

Details of current restrictions: www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/restric-tions-rest-victoria-covid-19

Victorians living in metro Melbourne and Mitchell Shire are now recommended to wear face masks in situations where they are leav-ing their home and physical distancing is not possible – to help slow the spread of coronavi-rus in the community.

Many locals have also taken the advice and are now wearing masks in public.

Premier Daniel Andrews announced the new recommendations from the Chief Health Officer would apply, following new evidence from global medical experts and increased community transmission in Victoria.

Recent studies have shown wearing face masks can reduce transmission of Coronavi-rus by around 60 per cent.

The Chief Health Office has recommended wearing masks when it is not possible to maintain a distance of at least 1.5 metres from other people.

He said face masks provide an added layer of protection but the best ways to reduce the trans-mission of Coronavirus remained the same – good hand hygiene, cough and sneeze etiquette and keeping a physical distance of 1.5 metres.

Masks are a health recommendation only and will not be enforced – people will not be fined for not wearing a face mask.

The government also announced it has or-dered over two million reusable masks and one million more single-use masks to ensure more Victorians have access to this added pro-tection while also boosting local manufactur-ing capability.

To bridge the gap while local manufacturing ramps up, a million single-use masks will also be ordered.

The Chief Health Officer has recommended wearing masks to help slow the spread of Coronavirus.Clarabelle the cow has taken the message to heart and is leading by example.The popular mascot for Grumpy’s Crazy Golf in Cowes has been wearing a mask decorated with love hearts, and showing every-one just how to stay safe.

Local supermarkets record-ed big crowds and brisk trade over the past week.

Shayne Crawford, manager at San Remo’s IGA said the school holidays had been “cra-zy” and as busy as summer.

He said things did “pick up slightly” after the Premier an-nounced the lockdown last week.

“There are still plenty of customers from out of town coming through the store, I guess either topping up before

they head home, or preparing to lock down in our shire.”

Images of Melbourne super-markets once again showed bare shelves, however local supplies are strong.

“Currently we’re getting approximately 80 per cent of stock we’re ordering from our main warehouse which is the best we’ve had since this all begun,” Shayne said.

“At one point we were actu-ally getting as low as 29 per cent. We’ve also kept up with

an additional weekly grocery delivery so the store will re-main well-stocked.

“We’re lucky we have onsite butchers (unlike the major su-permarket chains) and use lo-cal meat and fruit and vegeta-ble suppliers, so stock in fresh areas are under no threat.”

He said there were currently no buying limits in place, but customers were being asked to sanitise on entry, following the one-way aisle directions and be aware of social distancing.

Stay Safe, Cows style!

The Chief Health Office has recommended wearing masks when it is not possible to maintain a distance of at least 1.5 metres from other people.

Time to mask it

Citrus & Vine’s owners said they felt confused by new lockdown restrictions: “How can we as a business on the island try to protect everyone here and in regional Victoria? We don’t want to break the law and we certainly don’t want to be put in the predicament of contracting the virus.”

Confusion hits food traders

Police: visitors entitled to stay

Supermarkets busy


CORONAVIRUS LATEST LOCAL INFORMATION

Bass Coast Health CEO has urged visitors and residents not to be com-placent about the risks of Coronavirus.

She said everyone should follow the directives from the state government, including that anyone from metropoli-tan Melbourne holidaying outside of the lockdown areas must not extend their holiday beyond their original booking.

She said the directive was clear. From 11.59pm on July 8, anyone from the lockdown area would not be per-mitted to leave home for a holiday.

However it appears some holiday homeowners arrived in Bass Coast just before the midnight lockdown.

“My message to holiday homeown-ers is no different to the message I’ve been giving locals,” said Ms Child.

“Complacency is our biggest problem. This virus is very contagious. It is not like the cold or Influenza, and people need to understand just how infectious it is. No one person is immune – every-one is susceptible, and people will un-necessarily die if we don’t take control.

“And it won’t just be older people, or people with health problems; people who are young and fit and healthy are dying every day overseas.”

Ms Child said regional areas were not immune to community transmis-sions or a COVID outbreak.

“We are at a very serious crossroads in this pandemic and people’s behav-iours will determine whether this vi-rus, which is incredibly contagious, spreads in our community.

“We have an opportunity to prevent us going into further lock-down, but it requires a change in behaviour from everyone.

“It doesn’t matter whether you are a usual resident, or a part time resident, or a visitor. Everyone is at risk if people don’t do the right thing.”

Lower the riskAppropriate action will help reduce

the likelihood of contracting COV-ID-19, Ms Child said.

“This includes staying at home at ev-ery opportunity and avoiding personal contact which is the key source of com-munity transmission.

“Avoid crowds; avoid lining up for coffees; avoid anything that puts you in touch with number of people.”

She said practicing good hygiene was essential – washing your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water, including the webbing of hands and underneath fingernails.

“Practise physical distancing by keeping at least 1.5m distance between you and others. DO NOT hug, kiss and shake hands,” she said.

“When out in the community, avoid touching things that others touch and sanitise your hands wherever you can.”

She urged people to familiarise themselves with the symptoms of CO-VID. These include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, and loss of sense of smell or taste.

“If you have even the slightest hint of being unwell, stay at home and ar-range to be tested, even with the mild-est of COVID-19 symptoms. Don’t visit friends and family before or after

you get tested. Don’t go for a coffee or lunch. Don’t go to work. Just stay in your own home and patiently await your COVID test results.”

She also asked people to be respect-ful to BCH staff.

“There may be delays in testing and in receiving test results, but people need to remember that we are in a pan-demic. The demands on health services are extreme and we ask people to be patient and respectful as we do the best we can.”

Services as normalMs Child said despite the lock-down

in metropolitan Melbourne, the shared services with Alfred Health were not impacted.

“We are maintaining the Telehealth services we have had in place over the last couple of months and any essential

face-to-face services are continuing.”She said like all Victorian health ser-

vices, elective surgery is being main-tained at 75 per cent of capacity and category one and caesarean patients received priority.

She said in Melbourne and Mitchell shire, pre-operative testing has been in-troduced for all elective surgery patients.

“Patients having elective surgery at BCH whose usual place of residence is in Melbourne will be directed by their surgeon to have their swab in Mel-bourne. At this stage, local asymptom-atic patients do not require swabbing pre-operatively.

“Following COVID-19 testing, pa-tients will be advised to self-isolate until their admission to hospital,” Ms Child said.

With increasing numbers of health care workers testing positive in met-

ropolitan Melbourne, BCH has intro-duced temperature testing and screen-ing for all staff members at all sites.

“All staff have been trained in use of Personal Protective Equipment and in the Infection Control principles to keep people safe,” Ms Child said.

“Masks are being used in high risk front facing areas as required. There has been significant communication with staff to remind them to stay home and not to come to work if they are sick (and get tested), maintain physical distancing, and adhere to thorough hand hygiene.”

She said no BCH staff had been co-opted to work in Melbourne, however there were a number of staff who lived in Melbourne.

“BCH staff, regardless of their prima-ry place of residence, are encouraged to be tested and self-isolate until those test results come back.”

Bass Coast Shire Council CEO Ali Wastie has added her voice to calls for the community to remain calm as Victorian Coronavirus case num-bers rise.

“Now, more than ever, is the time to be kind and compassionate to everyone in our community,” Ms Wastie said.

“While regional Victoria has es-caped further restrictions for now, we mustn’t become complacent.”

She said the local community could expect to see less people as of the end of this week, as school holidays are supposed to finish for metropolitan Melbourne on the weekend.

“We have been concerned by the increased traffic on the roads since the lockdown was announced, how-ever, police have checkpoints in place to deter people who do not have a valid reason for visiting.”

She urged everyone in Bass Coast to keep social distancing, maintain good hygiene and avoid gathering in large groups.

“Whilst we are not in lockdown, it is best to assume that anyone of us could be COVID-19 positive at any time. Following these protocols is the best way to keep safe, regardless of where you live or where you are.

“COVID-19 does not discriminate and it is borderless. Remember, we are in this together and we will come out of it together,” said Ms Wastie.

“Look after yourself, your loved ones, your community. And remem-ber, if you have any symptoms, no matter how minor, please get tested.”

Council assistanceThe metropolitan lockdown will

impact on local businesses, with an expected reduction in visitor num-bers over the coming six weeks.

Council’s Executive Manager of Partnerships Advocacy and Econ-omy, Christian Stefani said while there were no additional measures being put in place, in May council had adopted a Financial Hardship Policy.

This was designed to help ratepay-ers cope with additional financial burdens caused by the pandemic.

“It also contained fee relief for businesses, including the reim-bursement of six months of 2019/20 street trading permit fees, the waiv-ing of business signage and liquor licensing permit fees and rent relief for caravan park and business op-erators in Council owned facilities.”

Residential ratepayers and busi-

nesses can apply for an interest-free deferral of their final 2019/20 rates instalment, and the first instalment of 2020/21.

He said council had launched a “Buy Local” campaign to support lo-cal businesses.

“In April, Council resolved to al-locate over $960,000 in support for businesses and community groups in Bass Coast. This package in-cludes the $700,000 Business and Community Resilience Grants Pro-gram,” Christian said.

Mr Stefani said the upcoming bud-get included a range of measures to help businesses including a freeze on fees and charges, waiver of busi-ness signage, footpath trading and liquor licences, and business and event recovery support.

He said council officers would maintain contact with local busi-ness operators to see how they’re coping and ensure they were ac-cessing any available government funding.

Mr Stefani said council would continue to seek government sup-port for the region, support proj-ects that would stimulate the local economy and work with the tourism boards to attract visitors back when the time is right.

If the address on your licence in-cludes a postcode from metropolitan Melbourne, the doors of local busi-nesses are closed.

While restrictions for regional ar-eas remained unchanged, the lock-down brought a significant new in-struction.

Accommodation providers, shop-ping, retail and personal services as well as cafes, bars and restaurants are now obliged “to check identifica-tion as part of records requirement and refuse service to those who re-side in metropolitan Melbourne or Mitchell Shire LGA.”

The introduction of the six-week lockdown for metropolitan Mel-bourne and continued border clo-sures are another blow for local businesses.

Kim Storey, General Manager of Destination Phillip Island described last week as “chaotic” as businesses scrambled to get clear direction on the new restrictions.

She said accommodation provid-ers were asked to cancel bookings

from the lockdown areas and pro-vide a refund. They could then claim a rebate from the state government.

To help deal with the impact of the lower visitor numbers, Kim said the government had announced a Busi-ness Support Package.

“Details will be shared in the com-ing weeks,” she said.

“Visit Victoria and the state govern-ment are considering the opportuni-ty to promote region to region travel, subject to the conditions.”

DPI is also investigating options to divert their current media cam-paigns to other regional areas.

She urged the community to sup-port local businesses and not share gossip or mistruths.

“Everyone should remember to be kind. I believe everyone is trying their best to manage these constant changes.

“It would be wonderful to see sup-port and empathy for our businesses and their staff during this time. We are one small community after all and live in a very special place.”

Another blow for business

Council calls for calm

Take the test! BCH CEO Jan Child said “complacency is our biggest problem” and urged anyone with even the mildest symptoms to be tested. Tests are available 24/7 at the Health Hub in Cowes.

Don’t be complacent


Business GuideLOCAL TRADES AND SERVICES

BLINDS & CARPET

LK54

07

5952 1488155 Thompson Avenue

CarpetsBlindsFurniture

AIR CONDITIONING

03 5678 [email protected]

f Coastal Refrigerationand Airconditioning

COMMERCIAL & DOMESTICSERVICE, INSTALLATION, MAINTENANCE AND SALES

AU22840

LK49

42

STILL OPEN

ELECTRICIAN

JBROWN ELECTRICS

JOSHUA BROWN M 0448 804 321E [email protected]

REC: 28634

JBROWN ELECTRICS

JOSHUA BROWN M 0448 804 321E [email protected]

REC: 28634

Your local and reliable electrician, no job too big or too smallYour local and reliable electrician, no job too big or too small

LK63

56

CONCRETER

PH: 5952 3853 FAX: 5952 5103Mob: 0418 560 202

RAY MATTOCK

• Exposed aggregate paving• Coloured - Slate - Brick paving

• House slabs - Garages

CONCRETINGAND EXCAVATIONS

LK54

00

ASBESTOS

ASBESTOS REMOVAL/BUILDING DEMOLITION

RIEDAU TECHNOLOGIESPhillip Island

5956 9551 / 0417 141 035

• Registered building practitioners• Worksafe approved l Fully insured

• All areas/free quotes

LK54

01

FENCING

LK49

41

• All aspects of timber fencing • Gates• Demolition and removal • Residential homes

• Holiday homes • RepairsFor a free measure and quote Call Pat 0431 514 [email protected]

CONCRETERLK

5412

CARPET CLEANING

Glen: 0405 415 133Email: [email protected]

• Carpet • Rugs • Deck • Floor Tiles• STEAM CLEANING

• Truck mount machine

COAST 2 COASTCARPET CLEANING

LK49

40

DECKS & VERANDAHS

LK00059AA

John Johnston 0414 714 179

ISLAND DECKS

Specialists in alltypes of decksand verandahs

BLINDS / AWNINGS

Free measure & quotemobile showroom

Peter: t/F: 5952 5092 m: 0417 358 650

Creative BlindsAwnings

&

LK49

43

FENCING

LK50

86

HIA

ISLAND TIMBER AND FENCING

Specialising in: brush, paling, ARC.Plus timber supplies, sleepers,

brush panels etc.ECOWOOD (Arsenic free) timber

NOW [email protected]

0414 541 849

CARPET CLEANING

JD57

20

ISLANDCARPET CLEANING

EST1981

• Extreme heat extraction - Rapid Dry• Commercial - domestic - upholstery

• Rental bond specialists • Fast, efficient service

RICHIE & DI LAING

0415 106 443 5956 [email protected]

ELECTRICIAN

New homes and renovationsEmergency service callsMaintenance and repairsNew appliance installationsFault findingPhone, data, TV installs and repairs


LIC: A56425 REC: 27368

FREEno obligation

quotes LK54

42

ANTENNAS & TV

LK00

234

Digital antenna installs & service, TV wall-mounting & install, home theatre & surround sound set-up,

satellite dish supply, install & service, new house/extension pre-wiring for TV & AV, TV

points, telephone & data paints & cabling ...and more!Call for advice or book in today!

0400 722 503

4 Glen Isla CourtCowes 3922

E [email protected]: mavtv.com.au

ABN 72 837 466 589

CONCRETER

0419 312 805

TIM NEWMAN

CONCRETING

RMB 2180 Ventnor 3922 E:[email protected]

• Exposed aggregate • House slabs• Driveways • Footpaths • Sheds & garages

• All concreting needsTel/Fax 5956 8791

LK54

14

CARPENTER

LK49

36

HOME REPAIRSCARPENTRY

Bob Holmes

0418 555 790Over 35 year’s trade experience

BUILDER

LK54

99Ph 0417 503 003

Rob NortonINSURED & LICENSED BUILDER DB-U 61563

ISLAND DESIGN & BUILD

“Extension & Renovation Specialist”Over 35 years experience

CONCRETER

LK51

86

0402 454 742

Luke Hinrichs, Specialising inDriveways, Patios,

Garages, Pattern, Plain, Exposed,DECORATIVE CONCRETING PROFESSIONALS

W

A

W

V

E E

N

C

O

G

N

N

I

C

R

T

E

AIR CONDITIONING

LK55

56

southcoast airAir conditioning& refrigerationCooling & heating specialistsSplit system sales & complete installationService, repairs Electrical contractor

0402 044 377 Dave MillerPIC. 43216

L109866 REC26099

EQUIPMENT HIRE

ISLAND EQUIPMENT HIREService & Repairs

20 The Concourse • Coweswww.islandequipmenthire.com.au

0417 820 565

• Short & Long term hire available with mechanic onsite for service & repairs

LK49

47

FENCING

LK50

92

Paling FencingRendered Fencing & Privacy Walls

FREE quote call Ashley 0418 556 645www.mooresfences.com.au

EARTHMOVING

LK51

85

611 Ventnor Road, Cowes0418 383 881 - 5956 8615


l 10m3 tippers l Bobcatl 4 ton excavators l Post hole borers

l Driveways l Rubbish removedl Quarry materials supplies l Blocks cleared

EXCAVATIONSNEAL McRAE

CLEANING FLUE/CHIMNEY

LK51

63

Richie LaingSince 1987

• CHIMNEY & FLUE CLEANING• NEW COWLS SUPPLY & FIT

ADVERTISING

Contact Lisa on 5952 3201 or email

[email protected]

To advertise in the

Business Guide

FENCING

SIMPLEF E N C I N G

Phillip Island and surrounds


EARTHMOVING

LK51

53

0418 418 615Servicing all Phillip Island areas

Rubbish removal

Bobcat/Excavator Tipper Hire

Skip Hire+ Earth works

All aspects of earthmoving, driveways, draining and landscaping

CONCRETER

LK50

89

F Exposed/PatternedF Coloured or plain

F Drainage solutions

‘THE DRIVEWAY SPECIALISTS’

MARK ATLEY CONCRETING

31 Reid Street, Rhyll. 3923Ph: 0418 105 262

EST.1983


LANDSCAPING

LK00

163

GRACE LANDSCAPESDesign Solutions, Beautiful Landscapes

www.heathgracelandscapes.com8 Vista Place, Cape Woolamai

Heath Grace 0404 596 [email protected]


STEEL

Steel fabrication • Stainless/Aluminium fabricationSteel sales cut to order • Sheetmetal fabrication

Guillotine and folding • Gal lintels / Retaining wall postsTruck mounted CRANE HIRE • Genie lift and generator hire

Call for a quote WE DELIVER14-16 The Concourse, Cowes 5952 1432

Email:[email protected]

LK50

85

GAS SUPPLIERS

LK54

03

Servicing Phillip Island & San RemoFor all household gas supplies

and appliances sales

Bruce WrightTel: 5952 3252 Mobile 0409 164 441

Agency for EL AS

WRIGHTONGAS SUPPLIES

PLUMBING

LK49

39

CHUNKSPLUMBING

• Gas • Hot water units• Sewers, storm water, blockages

A local, reliable businessDaniel Campbell - 0438 520 [email protected]

All types of plumbing24 HOUR SERVICE Lic # 48411

LAWN MOWING

LK61

97Big Steve’sGarden Solutions

0438 007 063

n Lawn mowingn Rubbish removedn Fully insured

Ring fo

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• Qualified• Tree Maintenance• Tree Removal• Fruit Tree Pruning

NO JOB TOO SMALL

Call Shaun 0423 910 554

• Storm Damage• Lawn Mowing• Garden MaintenanceFREE QUOTES

SL Tree Care

GUTTER CLEANING

JD58

40

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Minimum Usage

In order to maintain clear brand legibility werecommend that the logo is not used below1.5cm in height.

Please ensure that you maintain the aspect ratio when enlarging or reducing the logo.

Preferably, place the logo at the top or bottom of the page where it isnÕt overshadowed by other elements.

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Reversed Out Logo

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PLUMBING

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RELIABLE PLUMBERFast Response at an honest price

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• NO CALL OUT FEE• Leaking taps & toilets• Hot water systems replaced• Vanities & water• Filters installed• Gas fitting• General plumbing

Iappy the Plumber0427 776 808

• NO CALL OUT FEE• Leaking taps & toilets• Hot water systems replaced• Vanities & water

LAWN MOWING

LK51

64

Lawn mowing, gardening, pruning, hedging, rubbish removal, gutter cleaning,

weeding, mulching, odd jobswww.jimsmowing.com.au

Call 131 5463 FREE QUOTES3 Fully insured3 Police checked3 OH&S compliant

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RUBBISH REMOVAL

RUBBISH REMOVALWe load for you - No job too small!

FOR A FAST FREE QUOTECALL SHANE 0407 599 616 OR 5678 2002

We can also remove unwanted cars, trucks, motorbikesand scrap metal for FREE

LOCAL TOWING NOW AVAILABLE

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PAINTER & DECORATOR

LK5087

0431 992 027

Old homes, restorations, real estate, insurance work, domestic & commercial

Free quotes/over 25 years exp. Competitively priced/professional

reliable [email protected]

Julian BirdPainting & Plastering

ROOFING

LK54

08

• Domestic & Commercial • Repairs• New Installation & Renewals • Maintenance

• Fascia, Gutters & Downpipes• Aluminium Gutter Guard • Metal Wall Cladding

M: 0431 044 485 E: [email protected] No 40950

SOUTHERNMETAL ROOFING

Metal Roofing Specialists

HANDYMAN

GLASS

5952 5570 0419 525 588

Darren AndersonFactory 1/110 Dunsmore Rd, Cowes

Reglazing Showers Mirrors Splashbacks Balustrading

‘when quality counts’

Phillip Island

WORKSGLASS

LK52

41

TIMBER & TANKS

LK54

05

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Cnr Corinella turn off and Bass Highway, Grantville

Large stock of timber, farm products,roofing iron, poly water tanks

VAN STEENSELTIMBERS

PTY. LTD.

PLUMBING

MB

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93

Same DayPlumbingService

MorrisBrothers

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LAWN MOWING

LK49

48

LAWN MOWING

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• Edging • Clean Up• Fully Insured • Plus more services

For free appraisal:Call Russell 0400 626 961

[email protected]

LAWN MOWING

LK49

440411 175 957Call for a free quote

For all your lawnmowing,landscaping &

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Dave Costello

PLUMBING

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CALL BRETT 0417 829 002

GLASS

LK48

65

• Residential locksmithing & key cutting • Mosaic glass • Flyscreens• Shower screens • Re-glazing • Security doors l Glass balustrading

PH: 5952 3555 MOB. 04325 9 7641, FAX 5952 3444Factory 3, 221 Settlement Road, Cowes

[email protected]

LEWIS BETTS A.B.N. 28 300 150 885

Glazing the Island and district

BETTSY'S

GLASS

BETTSY’SGLASS

STORAGE

LK50

83

Large & Small UnitsBoxes & PackagingSecurity Monotoring

On Site Manager24hr / 7 day access

IslandSecureStorage

Phone 0400 214 446 4 Industrial Way, Cowes 3922

Alt Ph: 5952 1432 Fax: 5952 5690 Email: [email protected]

Web: www.islandstorage.com.au

HANDYMAN

Wright Cut Home & Property Maintenace

0484 867 919

CALL GARY FOR A FREE QUOTE. No job to big or small.

PROPERTY MAINTENANCE Fully equipped for any job.

PEST CONTROL

LK52

93

PHILLIP ISLAND PEST CONTROLOFFERING FIVE STAR FRIENDLY SERVICE

H H H H H

Treatmentof all pests

23 years experience ALL WORK GUARANTEED

COMPETITIVE PRICES

• Termites • Rodents • Fleas • Bees• Cockroaches • Spiders • Wasps

• Soil treatments • Red Stop Barriers Installed

Mobile: 0419 543 637

PLUMBING

LK49

37

Email | [email protected]

Brendan DuncanPIC No. 26296

plumbing & gasfitting

24 hours7 days

- Roofing - Gas - Water - Hot Water - Pumps- Water Tanks - Sewers & Storm water - Blockages

0418 342 649

SECURITY

PAINTER & DECORATOR

JO00

157A

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ADVERTISING

To advertise in the business guide

Contact Lisa on 5952 [email protected]

TREE SERVICES

LK54

15

Sean 0439 900 091www.treecarenow.net

• Tree & Stump removal• Pruning • Chipping

Fully insured

TREE CARE NOWWINDOW CLEANING

Residential & commercial workCall Maria 0422 258 948


PREMIER WINDOW PREMIER WINDOW CLEANINGCLEANING

We promise sparkling windows every time!

Discounts apply for pensioners

WINDOW CLEANING

JD57

22

ventnor propertymaintenancefree quotes, no job to small

tim watertonlawn mowing, rubbish removal, cleanups, windows cleaned, all general odd jobs.M: 0491 141 580E: [email protected]

Council Budget 2020/21 – questions

1. New Funding: This lists several projects that total $920,000.00 expen-diture. All expenditure is on plans for these projects. How much of this is outsourced? Why are these funds not being used to complete current projects? Why not increase support to projects like Affordable Housing and/or business support? These funds could be used to push through protec-tion for the GM testing site.

2. Investment in Capital Projects: The figure shown is $27 97million. However, the items listed only add to $19.67million. This leaves an unex-plained amount of $8.3million.

3. More Specific Items: This list to-tals $9.86 million of the $27.97 million to be expended and records items as small as $250,000. The budget papers show capital expenditure totalling $9.86million or approximately 33% of total spend. Why is there no detail of the remaining two thirds of the capital expenditure budgeted for?

4. Complete Council’s Core Sys-tem Implementation: $1.65million to be expended in this budget. This project began September 2016. This will be the fifth year of its life and service. What is the total spend on this Core System and it’s foreseeable life. Where is it shown on previous budgets? Is this the final payment and what is the ongoing mainte-nance cost?

5. Council Rates: The budget in-dicates Council has restricted the rate increase to 2%. Later it states the actual increase across the board is 3.3%. The budget papers state

Council has used revised property valuations to calculate its rateable remuneration. This revaluation is on average 4%. However for residen-tial properties it is 3.6%. Residential properties rated on adjusted valu-ations of plus 3.6% at an increased rate of 2% would in fact be subject to a rate increase of 5%. The compari-son of total rate revenue between 2019/20 and 2020/21 (page 51) shows an increase of 4%.

6. Income Statement – Employee Costs: Why are employee costs, without a staff increase, budgeted to increase by 7.1%, when the budget papers clearly state the increase is to be maintained at 1.8% per annum until June 2022? This jump of 7.1% is far too much to be justified as a catch up for some staff who have foregone increases during 2020/21.

Trevor Brown, San Remo.

Freedom of InformationThe Bass Coast Ratepayers and

Residents Association formally lodged a FOI request with the Bass Coast Shire asking for all the Tender and associated documents with their 10-year Waste Contract. This request came from our members and was lodged June 1, 2019.

Over this extended time frame, we have only received documents that were available on Council’s website. We arranged several meetings with the Shire’s staff and detailed what we were after, and were then given dates and timelines by said staff. We are still waiting to receive the docu-ments. At the meeting on February 17 we were told they would be avail-able by the end of February 2020. We

know the timeframe is well outside Council and Government’s recog-nised FOI time frame.

With Council approaching a new election and having a draft budget to respond to, we would like to see some action taken for us to be in a position to respond to the current draft Budget within the timeframe Council has stated.

It reminds me how some of this current group of Councillors pro-duced election statements, stating that the Waste Contact, agreed to by the Council at their final Meeting, should be shown to the public.

The Councillors involved are Steve Fullarton (PI & SR Advertiser Sep-tember 21, 2016) followed by Mi-chael Whelan (September 28, 2016) also published in the Advertiser.

BCRRA sincerely hopes they still hold to their canvassing promises that the people elected them on and help to correct this situation.

John Trigt, BCRRA Treasurer

A rich community asset for all

Dogs on beaches are again being discussed in our community. My name is David Rooks and I’m an Island Ward candidate for the up-coming October Council elections. My platform is to protect and en-hance our Island’s community as-sets. How lucky we are to have our island beaches. They are a rich com-munity asset, perfect playgrounds for a range of outdoor activities and available free for all ages of the com-munity to use. It’s important they remain safe for all members of the

community and our wildlife to use. I support our CEO comments as reported in this paper last week to “continue with the observations of dog owner and beach user behav-iour” before reviewing the current Domestic Animal Management Plan.

David Rooks, Island Ward Candidate

Rubbish budgetThe draft budget released two

weeks ago has stated that the rate payers are going to have to pay more for the kerbside rubbish collecting. I am outraged.

The most fundamental responsi-bility of any Council is rubbish col-lection. It is the number one item on any rate notice.

I am appalled that the Council is demolishing the cultural centre at great cost before absorbing the costs of collecting the bins.

The rate payers are being squeezed like lemons.

Furthermore, all the bins should be collected weekly from Christmas to the end of February and the week of Easter.

When the purple bin is introduced shortly the confusions will be fur-ther increased.

Another thing I want to bring in, if elected, to make life easier for the community, is a sticker that can be put on each bin showing which bin is being collected on which week.

This will eliminate the “3 shell” tick that we commonly see where all the bins are put out weekly in the hope that at least two of them will be cleared.

Ronnie Bauer, candidate for the Island Ward

The news that Bass Coast has re-corded its first cases of COVID-19 since April is a sobering reminder this crisis is far from over.

While it’s tempting to point the fig-ure at visitors or holiday homeown-ers for the re-emergence of the virus in our shire, as Bass Coast CEO Ali Wastie reminded us this week, COVID “does not discriminate and it is bor-derless”. Going to Melbourne to work, shop or visit family could just as easily be the reason for these current cases.

Perhaps, as Bass Coast Health CEO Jan Child said in her interview, we’ve become complacent. To pro-tect ourselves and our community, we need to follow the advice from the Chief Health Officer, including practicing social distancing, main-taining hygiene and limiting our in-teraction with others.

If you have any symptoms, please organise to be tested.

Rather than criticising others, let’s cast a critical eye over our own be-haviour and look at anything, how-ever small, we can do to improve the way we interact with the community. This is the best thing any of us can do to help stop the spread.

There are many people who are anxious and many businesses are hurting from this latest round of re-strictions. Let’s support each other and offer a virtual helping hand.

We have reduced the spread in our community to zero before and we can do it again.

Stay safe, stay home and if you do need to go out, wear a mask.

Last term, students at San Remo Primary School created a very spe-cial welcome back message.

The students created artworks from their traced hands to put on the windows around the school as a wel-come back to school for themselves, their families and the teachers.

“It was so lovely to see their fan-tastic ideas and great artwork,” said teacher Virginia Baxter.

“The hands represented the school

community and in these unprece-dented times acted like a big hug for parents and carers who are at this point unable to come into the school grounds.

“Hopefully this small gesture gives not only our school community but also our wider community a sense of belonging.”

Students across Bass Coast and regional Victoria returned to school this week.

You’ve gotta hand it to them

There is more to living with diabetes than managing blood sugar levels – the stress of the condition can also impact a person’s wellbeing.

That’s why the theme of National Di-abetes Week – July 12 to 18 – is ‘Diabe-tes and Emotional and Mental Health’.

Claire Gatto knows too well the im-pact diabetes can have as a Diabetes Educator at Bass Coast Health (BCH).

“Living with diabetes can be quite burdensome. On top of their daily du-ties, people have to plan what to eat, what exercise to do and when to check their blood sugar levels,” she said.

“There is no holiday from diabetes.”There is even a condition known as

‘Diabetes Distress’ – an emotional re-sponse to the burden of having to deal with diabetes day in, day out, which is common among people who use insu-lin to manage their diabetes.

“A lot of people do not know that Diabetes Distress exists and when they do, they just relax,” Claire said.

“It’s a normal response and we can support people who are distressed with diabetes education or sometimes they might need the help of a psychologist if they are not coping.”

People living with diabetes are also at greater risk of depression than the general population.

“If a person is depressed, it can affect their management of their diabetes because depression can affect motiva-tion,” Ms Gatto said.

“We want to let people know that it is perfectly OK to seek help.”

Ms Gatto offers these tips for people with diabetes:

• Keep in regular contact with your diabetes team

• Eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. Walking is a natural anti-depressant

• Talk to people about how you feel.Diabetes covers a range of condi-

tions where the glucose (sugar) in the blood becomes higher than normal.

Insulin is a hormone that moves glu-cose from the blood stream into the cells where it is used for energy.

When you have diabetes, the body either can’t make enough insulin or the insulin that is being made does not work properly. This causes your blood glucose level to become too high.

High blood glucose levels can affect a person’s short and long term health but with the right advice, technology and medication, diabetes can be man-aged well.

There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. At this stage there is no known cure for either type of diabe-tes. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes can include excessive thirst and urination, unexplained weight loss, weakness and fatigue.

Symptoms of type 2 are similar to those for type 1 diabetes. However, some people with type 2 diabetes do not have symptoms. For some, the first indication may be a complication of diabetes such as a heart attack, vision problems or a foot ulcer.

Diabetes is diagnosed by a blood test.The diabetes team at Bass Coast

Health includes fellow educators Gayle Stroop and Belinda Matthews. People wishing to see the diabetes team can call the Access team at BCH on 5671 3175.

Claire Gatto (left) and Gayle Stroop, Di-abetes Educators at Bass Coast Health, can help people manage the emotional impacts of living with diabetes.

No need to stress about diabetes

LETTERS TO THE EDITORTell us your views with a

‘Letter to the Editor’,

(350 word limit).

Email [email protected]

COVID returns


We held our annual Budget Q&A session live on Facebook last week, which gave our com-munity the opportunity to ask questions about the proposed 2020/21 budget, with councillors and staff on hand to provide answers in real time.

This year, the pandemic meant we weren’t able to hold face-to-face consultation sessions on the proposed budget, so this online plat-form has proven to be incredibly valuable.

Our reach from the session currently ex-ceeds 8500 people and the engagement is up around 1300. Bass Coast has led the way in on-line engagement using Facebook.

In fact, these online sessions are one of our most effective, open and transparent commu-nity engagement tools and their success has been the envy of many other councils across the state.

You may have seen the fantastic news last week that we have been successful in securing $1.2 million in grants from Sport and Recre-ation Victoria (SRV) for the Guide Park rede-velopment in Wonthaggi and a new change room facility for the Dalyston Netball Club.

With this funding, we will be able to get to work on the $1.4 million Guide Park Redevel-opment Project and the $1.3 million Dalyston Netball Court and Change Pavilion Project.

The Dalyston Netball Court and Change Pa-vilion Project actually represents quite a mile-stone for our region. Once it is complete, it will mean all of our local Football/Netball clubs will have received a netball court and pavilion upgrade, achieved within recent years.

Speaking of grants, we were super proud and excited to announce the successful appli-cants for our Business and Community Resil-ience Grants Program this week.

This $700,000 program is unprecedented for council and was developed earlier in the year in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A heap of work has gone into the assessment

of the grants by council offi cers and our Com-munity Leadership Group, particularly consid-ering we received over 250 applications for the program.

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Initiative of Phillip IslandMasonic Lodge

MSC7939

Members should check their church websites for details of service times and guidelines.

UNITING CHURCH:www.cowes.unitingchurch.org.

au/minister.php

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The General PrinciplesAccuracy and clarity1. Ensure that factual material in news reports and elsewhere is accurate and not misleading, and is distinguishable from other material such as opinion.2. Provide a correction or other adequate remedial action if published material is significantly inaccurate or misleading.

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a fair opportunity is given for subsequent publication of a reply if that is reasonably necessary to address a possible breach of General Principle 3.

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Integrity and transparency7. Avoid publishing material which has been gathered by deceptive or unfair means, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.8. Ensure that conflicts of interests are avoided or adequately disclosed, and that they do not influence published material.

Please help me reduce the road toll by reducing night-time speed limits on Phillip Island, especially on the Newhaven Rhyll Road where my mother died. This is such a beau-tiful island but the death on the roads is too awful. Please, we have to do something about this, for this little creature and so many others.

My mother died last night.

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SITUATION VACANT

SMALL ENGINE MECHANIC REQUIRED

Cert III outdoor power equipment mechanic required for busy workshop in Cowes. Part time position available

for immediate start. Please email resumes to

[email protected]

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CASUAL EDUCATION SUPPORT STAFF

COWES PRIMARY SCHOOLWritten applications are invited for a motivated and enthusiastic person to join our dedicated team as an Education Support staff member.

Minimum selection criteria applies and applicants must have a current Employee

Working with Children check. To obtain a copy of the selection criteria and/or

to submit application please email: [email protected]

All applications need to be submitted no later than 8.30am Monday 20th July.

JO00161AA

Position VacanciesBass Coast Health

t 5671 3333 f 5671 3300e [email protected] www.basscoasthealth.org.au

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Bass Coast Health is seeking applications for the following positions:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cadet Fixed term Full Time – Closes 31/7/20

Team Leader – Physiotherapy Grade 3 and Allied Health Assistance Full Time – Closes 31/7/20

Physiotherapist – Grade 2 Full Time – Closes 31/07/20

Registered Nurse Grade 2 – Anaesthetic, PACU Fixed Term – Part Time – Closes 31/07/20

For full position details, a position description and how to apply, please refer to the BCH website basscoasthealth.org.au or contact Human Resources via email [email protected]

ALCOHOLICS ANONY-MOUS: Weekly meetings Bass Coast Shire, Wont-haggi - Tuesday 8pm; AA Cowes Big Book meeting at St Philip’s Church (opp. Coles) - Tuesday 7pm, 0417 317 470; Salvation Army building, McKenzie St., Wonthaggi, Saturday 11am, 5672 3627. Phone head office 9429 1833.

“Let your light shine before

men, that they may see your good deeds and priase

your father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:16, NIV

NARCOTICS ANONY-MOUS: Weekly meet-ings Bass Coast Shire: Cowes - Sunday 5-6pm, St Philip’s Church (opp. Coles); Wonthaggi - Fri-day 11am, Salvation Army Hall (149 McKen-zie St.). Phone 1300 652 820 or visit na.org.au

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

SITUATIONS VACANT Mayor’s Message, by Cr Brett Tessari


SPORT

Our last report was a couple of weeks ago and things were looking positive for the season ahead, many businesses opening again and plan-ning for summer holidays.

How quickly things can change.Melbourne back into lockdown,

positive cases climbing and local business all of a sudden not look-ing too far forward and just trying to survive.

While all this is going on the key board warriors are at it again on so-cial media making some very unedu-cated comments. It even got to the point where people sitting outside cafes were being told they should be going home by some of the local residents.

I understand the concerns around the virus, but some of the gener-alised comments towards visitors, not even knowing where they have actually come from, has been very disappointing.

There has also been some com-

mentary we have heard about busi-nesses simply looking after them-selves with no concern for the locals – also disappointing.

Business is doing all they are re-quired and more for the safety of all and many are just hanging on because of the restrictions. After all they are the last to want things to get out of control around here.

Everyone just needs to step back a little and take a deep breath, stick to the facts and not the rumours then sensible conversations can be had. Leave the policing up to those in a position of authority. The most im-portant thing if you are really con-cerned, simply don’t put yourself in a position of risk.

Hopefully some of the admin peo-ple of these pages take charge and delete the ridiculous rumours and comments, get the pages back to a useful tool for locals and visitors alike then maybe we will still be known for a friendly place to visit

when this is all over.Seems the fish have been a bit

wary of the virus lately as well with reports few and far between and the fish hard to find.

The lack of reports probably has a bit to do with the ordinary weather but in between, the quality winter days have continued and there has been plenty of opportunities to have a fish.

The reports we have been getting are it’s well worth the trip out. You need to head out this time of the year with a lower expectation than you would earlier in the season.

You are still chasing all the same species with the added benefit of schools of salmon and other bait fish for the freezer.

Cowes jetty has seen a mixed bag with reports of almost everything, not many of each but a huge variety over the week.

A few left with a feed of fish or at least some bait for the season to come, flathead, pinkies, small gum-mies, calamari, salmon and a couple of schools of mackerel turned up.

There were a few reports of cala-mari from the beaches at Ventnor also and one customer told us they caught two whiting one evening

closer to the Cowes boat ramp.Still not what we expect but more

calamari than we have seen lately at the San Remo jetty. Not from the typical ends of the day but from ran-dom times during the day.

Didn’t see much more than wrasse caught as far as fish go off the jetty.

The jetty at Newhaven produced a few more fish but not a lot of take-home ones. We were told of salmon, flathead and a couple of couta with plenty of rays and other non-keeper species.

Boat reports were a little better and some good bags of whiting still. Not big numbers but quality fish – just a bit of searching around to find them.

We haven’t had any reports of the very small pinkies for the last couple of weeks so would appear they have finally gone.

Plenty of cod in the bay now and the odd draughtboard shark which is a sign of the cold water. Search hard enough and you will find keeper gummies in between the tiny ones.

The best of the gummy fishing has been around Gardeners channel and a couple of reports from the top end towards Temby Point.

From the same area we had a re-

port of 23kg pinkies, and one big-ger something, snapper or possi-bly mulloway, after seeing a quick flash of colour, lost before it got to the boat.

The reports of whiting have come from the more traditional spots and nothing from the deep water this week.

With the perfect weather, offshore has been open to most with mixed success. Some have started to fish only to see a whale spout and then spending more time following the whales than fishing.

If you do come across a whale you can watch it, but you must keep a le-gal distance from it.

Those who weren’t lucky enough to see a whale and kept fishing found some flathead, but the reports were from a few different areas.

The most consistent area was in front of the club house at Woolamai, but you had to search around be-tween the 25m and 40m areas.

To the east it was a little more dif-ficult and reports from these areas patchy at best.

If you were lucky enough to drop on them you managed a good feed quickly otherwise it was an all-day trip searching around for a few.

Tuesday, July 7 – Men’s Stableford: Winner was Laurie Downward H/c (15) with 42 points from Neil Wil-liams H/c (16) with 39 points.

9 Hole competition winner was Len Fenton with 17 points on a countback from Ron Hateley.

Wednesday, July 8 – Ladies 18 Hole Stableford: Winner was Marg Frith H/c (30) with 41 points from Rhonda Boyd H/c (21) with 37 points.

Thursday, July 9 – Men’s and Ladies Stableford: Winner was Terry Crump-ton H/c (12) with 41 points from Dan-iel McConnon H/c (11) with 40 points.

9 Hole competition winner was Mary Taylor with 21 points.

Saturday, July 11 – Men’s 9 Holes Stableford: Winner was Garry Blair H/c (17) with 22 points on a count-back from Reece Jamieson H/c (15)

also with 22 points.Ladies competition – Ladies 9

Holes Stableford: Winner was Jen Bilson H/c (32) with 21 points from Anne Sherwood H/c (33) with 19

points on a countback from Mary Taylor also with 19 points.

Men’s and Ladies – 9 Holes Stable-ford: 9 Hole winner was Reg Browne H/c (35) with 22 points from Ron Hateley H/c (32) with 20 points.

Next week’s Men’s event – 18 Hole Stableford – twice round the Front 9.

Competitions on Saturday, July 18 and Sunday, July 19.

Phillip Island Golf Club has closed its course to all non-members until further notice.

Chairman Mark Jamieson said the decision was made by the board in consultation with Golf Australia, af-ter it was announced that metropoli-tan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire would return to Stage 3 restrictions.

“Witnessing the influx of visitors to the island over the past week, we have made the decision to close the course to all non-members and green fee players until further no-tice,” he said.

“Our major concern is for the health and safety of our staff and members. We believe this to be the right decision.

“As always we will be approach-able and consider locals that fre-quent the course. We will monitor this decision and review it again in future weeks,” Mark said.

“We also remind members to sa-nitise their hands and practice social distancing. Please continue to follow government health advice.”

Around the Bay WITH J IM’S BA IT A N D TACKLE

Phillip Island Golf Club made the decision to close the course to all non-members, despite the rainbow captured over the club on the weekend.

Course closed to non-members

Anne McCallum, Lynn McCole, Dorothy Mahony and Robyn Docker

Kirsty Crane, Margaret Loughlan, Howard and Cathy Jones – Team Leaders and Tracy Cooksey

Gwen Mather, Christine Riley and Jill Trickey

Phillip Island golfPhillip Island lost one of its great

adventurers in Jim Brierley, who passed away on June 29.

Born in September 1924, when he was 88 Jim (pictured), held the title of the world’s oldest skydiver, and for his 89th birthday he jumped out of a plane to make a total of 3247 jumps.

“You can add another 20 to that fig-ure including army jumps, as a para-trooper in World War II,” Jim told the Advertiser in an interview in 2013.

Here, the Advertiser pays tribute to Jim, reprinting that interview from almost a decade ago.

Jim first took to the skies during World War Two when he was serving in the army and volunteered to be a paratrooper.

As part of his service and up un-til he left the army in 1948, Jim saw active service in many parts of the Middle East, North Africa, Sicily and Greece.

On two occasions he landed be-hind enemy lines.

His skydiving days and gear were tightly packed away for the next 38 years until at the age of 58, Jim once again felt the urge to take to the skies.

“I decided then that I would go back to jumping. I liked the enjoy-ment and the camaraderie that you get out of it,” he said at the time.

Jim explained that for many years he belonged to an exclusive club – the “phorty” club.

This is a group of skydivers over the age of forty (hence the derivative ‘phorty’) and from all over the world.

Every two years they met up in a different location.

The gathering was an opportunity to get to know each other and their families, and basically, to have a lot of fun.

As thrill-seekers, they tested each other’s mettle by jumping from different aircraft, locations

and altitudes.“We always had a lot of fun. One

time we decided to jump from a hot air balloon or on another occasion we were able to board a Russian built he-licopter (in New Zealand) and jump from the back of that. It was spec-tacular falling over the mountain for-ests,” said Jim back in 2013.

Jim’s skydiving experiences were as varied as the places in which he has landed. He calmly related that he had jumped from high altitudes of over 25,000 feet, and from as low as 172 feet – from the West Gate Bridge.

That was for his 70th birthday.Aside from jumping in three inter-

national air shows at Avalon, and on to the centre of the MCG, Jim said that he always felt nervous before the plane door opened.

He thought that this was a good thing as you need to be alert and aware of what you are doing, espe-cially when skydiving in formation.

He said that skydivers are con-stantly thinking of those around them and what they need to be doing –and that you need to plan your spot.

It’s better to have some nerves than none, was his view.

In pursuing this interest Jim jumped into the history books.

He was and it is believed he still is, the oldest person in the world to free-fall, at the ripe old age of 88.

That was supposed to be his last jump.

However he donned the gear and boarded the plane again to jump on special occasions, like his birthday.

He had accepted that he had reached the age to give it away gently.

Jim’s daring and example saw him included in a newly released book “In Praise of Ageing” written by Patricia Edgar.

This acknowledgement not only added another chapter to his already illustrious life but served as an en-couragement to others to get out and enjoy life to the full, no matter how old you are.

Vale Jim Brierley


SPORT

James Lewis drives the ball forward in a closely contested game between Phillip Island’s U14 red and blue sides.

Under 14 ruckmen Zac Walker and Jai Coulter battle it out in the U14 red versus blues match. The much-anticipated practice match was thoroughly enjoyed by both players and spectators. who were delighted to see the youngsters back playing on the footy ground.

It’s been a long wait for their favourite winter sport of footy to be able to resume for these young U12 island players, and their joy showed in the cheer that went up as they made their way out on to the ground on Sunday.The weather was perfect for the return of junior footy, with parents social distancing and all aspects of the COVID rules applied.

The U14 big men fl y high on Sunday in their fi rst match for the season.

It was a great day on Sunday with everyone at the Cowes oval de-lighted to see the junior footy players able to take to the ground again.

The island’s U10s red team listen attentively to coach Luke Marshall at the half time break.

The weather was kind on Sunday afternoon as the Phillip Island Bulldogs U12 Blues lined up against the U12 Reds, for a scratch match prior to the start of their season.It was a great opportunity to run off the CO-VID cobwebs for everyone.

It’s all eyes on the ball in Sunday’s U12 red versus blue match.Jack Mascaros was fi rst to the ball in the U12 match.

Footy’s back!

- THE ADVERTISER, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2020PAGE 20

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Clouds mirrored in the still waters of Cleeland Bight. Photo by Nicole Adolphson.

A time for reflection

Plans for the 2020 season in the West Gippsland Football Netball league have been abandoned.

Initially it was proposed Un-der 16s and Under 18s football and the 11-17-year old netballers would play a shortened season.

Unfortunately the COVID lock-down put a stop to that.

A post on the league’s Facebook Page on July 9 stated: “After ex-tensive consultation with the WG-FNC clubs this week, the league has made the decision to abandon the 2020 season for the Under 16’s and Under 18’s football and 11 & Under, 13 & Under, 15 & Under and 17 & Under netball competi-tions.

“Whilst this announcement will understandably disappoint many, half of the league’s clubs have been directly impacted by the re-

turn to COVID-19 related Stage 3 conditions.

“In dealing with the uncertainty beyond the six-week lock down period, it was agreed that a clear direction from the league to its members, volunteers and support-ers was needed regarding the 2020 season.”

Chris Ross, President of the Phillip Island Football Netball Club said six clubs had to pull the pin on the season due to the CO-VID restrictions.

In addition, Korumburra and Warragul both said they were un-able to compete.

“That only left four clubs,” ex-plained Chris.

He said they were currently looking at organising a combined game for the Under 16 and 18 footballers.

“We are going to try and play be-tween Phillip Island, Bass, Inver-loch and Dalyston.”

AFL Gippsland has said it will assist any clubs that chose to or-ganise practice matches amongst themselves.

The netball season has been ful-ly cancelled.

Youngsters take the fieldThe club’s youngest footballers

will still be able to play in the Southern Gippsland League.

The Under 10s, 12s, 14s played a practice match last Sunday, with the competition due to start this weekend.

Due to Coronavirus restrictions, there are major changes that play-ers and parents must adhere to, said Brendan Cashman, Junior Football Operations.

“Change Rooms are NOT avail-able. Players will need to arrive ready to play,” he posted on the club Facebook page.

Players were also instructed to bring their own clearly marked water bottle and need to bring a jumper to wear if they spend time on the bench.

“They will not be able to share club tops or blankets,” the post said.

“Under NO circumstances should any player attend a game or train if they are feeling unwell or showing any COVID related symptoms.”

Parents and spectators were re-minded of the 10-person rule for outdoor gathering and were urged to “spread around the ground”, keep 1.5 metres apart and remain in their vehicles if possible.

WGFNL season totally gone

Surfing Victoria has an-nounced cancellation of six events due to the increased re-strictions throughout Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula.

“Due to the current situation unfolding in Victoria we have made the difficult decision to cancel all scheduled events up to the end of September 2020,” it said in a statement released on July 13.

The cancelled events are:• Victorian SUP Surfing Titles• Remaining heats of Victorian

Longboard Titles Rd 1• Victorian Masters Titles• Victorian SUP Racing Titles

(Marathon & Tech)• Woolworths Junior Surfing

Titles Rd 3• Australian Indigenous Surf-

ing Titles presented by Rip CurlAll remaining events for 2020

will be placed on standby with an update provided by the end of August pending an easing of

restrictions.Events on standby include

the Australian SUP Titles which were due to be held on Phillip Island, as well as the Phillip Is-land Pro QS 1000 event.

Rip Curl Gromsearch, Hydra-lyte Sports Pro Junior, Victorian Open Series Round 1, Worksafe Tradies Challenge, Australian Boardriders Battle Victorian Round and Woolworths Surfer Groms Comp are all on standby.

Surfi ng Victoria said it will release further information on management of events closer to the event dates “including restric-tions around onsite spectators, risk management and hygiene”.

“Surfing Victoria appreciate everyone’s’ patience during this difficult time. We trust the in-tegrity and cooperation of the Victorian surfing community and look forward to the recom-mencement of a safe competi-tion calendar.”

No surf comps until October

Sage Goldsbury in action during the Victorian Junior Surfi ng titles earlier this year, where she won the Under 18 girls event.

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