Help Stop AGL. Get help with your EES submission!

Help Stop AGL. Get help with your EES submission!

Posted on by Candy van Rood

It’s no surprise that people are feeling daunted by AGL’s EES – it’s over 11,000 pages of technical information with just weeks to make a comment. 

But it’s not that hard and you can make a difference. Make your voice heard, and your concerns about AGL’s proposal known by writing a submission. 

Last week Save Westernport and Environment Victoria held online workshops on How to Write a Powerful Submission. 
You can read some tips and information from that forum here.

We’re currently planning a public forum to discuss what this project would mean for the region, and why it’s so important to stop AGL in Westernport. We hope our elected representatives will join us to talk about what they are doing to prevent it hear what they have to say about the campaign.

Remember during the Federal election last year Save Westernport held a public meeting where each of the candidates for the seat of Flinders campaigned against the AGL project?

Read about it here in the June 2019 issue of the Balnarring Bridge. 

The details of that online forum are still being finalised, watch this space and sign up here to receive Save Westernport’s regular newsletter for all the details as soon as they’re available
https://savewesternport.org/newsletter/

Remember over 22,000 individual submissions were received against the Narrabri gas project !

The Minister needs to receive as many submissions as possible against AGL’s plans in Westernport, so he’s in no doubt about the extent of Community opposition to AGL’s dirty and exploitative gas proposal.

All Our Somers…………by Marnee Fraser

All Our Somers…………by Marnee Fraser

Posted on by Candy van Rood

Somers Beach is a very special jewel in the crown of Westernport Bay. Over the past 40 years, I have watched its dynamic shoreline change with every passing year. Its crystal-clear waters stretch from Coolart, Somers School Camp and Merricks Creek, all the way east from the yacht club, through to Williams Point and around past the 100 Steps to Sandy Point where French Island opens up across the bay.

I have walked on this beach every morning for many years and everyday, no matter the season, it takes my breath away when I emerge from the foreshore near the creek mouth and take in the view down to Flinders and across to Phillip Island.

Each season brings its own surprises in the sea, the clouds, the shoreline, the birdlife and our very own pod of dolphins. Over the years I have witnessed attempts to subdue the tide and its erosive effects. Rock walls, groins and sea walls have come and gone over time – some successful, most not –nature just continues to do her thing.

Our children have walked Somers beach, explored its foreshore, surfed its creek mouth, snorkelled over its reefs and sea-grasses and played with their friends on its sand. They continue to do so as adults and want their children to experience the same joys as they have.

AGL is simply not to be trusted to love our bay like we do. Their record of environmental damage is testament to this with $6,500,000 being paid out in fines over the past 5 years.

 

Morn Pen Council Information Session on AGL’s EES

Morn Pen Council Information Session on AGL’s EES

Posted on by Julia Stockigt

Concerned about AGL’s LNG proposal ?                 

 Have Your Say – Make a Submission

You can have your say on this project by making a written submission to State Government. Details on how to make a submission are here.

You can make a submission as part of a Residents Group or Community Organisation, however petitions don’t count as a submission.

Community Information Session

The Mornington Peninsula Shire Council held a community information session about the AGL project on Thursday 16 July.  Due to Coronavirus restrictions, the session was held as an online webinar. You can watch it here

Members of the public joined the webinar on the night, where Council officers provided an outline of:

  • the project proposal,
  • approvals process,
  • Council’s planned response,
  • key dates and events,
  • answers to frequently asked questions.

Members of the public had the opportunity to ask their own questions via the online chat function.

Please note: For those who could not attend the webinar, a recording of the session and copy of the PowerPoint have been uploaded to the Council’s website.

Save Westernport has made the Council’s presentation available here
https://youtu.be/LnLM1KIDmyk

 

  • Questions during the webinar were submitted by typing into the Q&A chat function on the screen.
  • The webinar did not have the capability to host verbal questions from guests.

    The EES is our chance to have our say on the AGL proposal.

    Save Westernport encourages you to make a submission and attend our information session with Environment Victoria to find out how.

    We’ll let you know the details soon.

Warren Cooke’s Heart Story for Westernport

Warren Cooke’s Heart Story for Westernport

Posted on by Candy van Rood

I don’t ‘use’ Westernport, it actually gives to me. I find a sense of wholeness when I connect to the natural beauty of this place through art making, swimming, surfing, sailing and beach walks with family and friends. I also do my best to give back to it, by collecting rubbish, protesting as needed and by honouring this place in my art practice.

Westernport is a place of great beauty to admire and marvel at throughout the seasons; grand coastal banksias and mangroves, undulating waters, dolphins, shore birds and migratory birds as they feast along the waterline. It is a sanctuary. It is home to an internationally recognised RAMSAR wetland and for many creatures, both land-based and marine, it is their nursery and home.

AGL is being dishonest with Australians, claiming that we need a gas terminal for their imported gas. This is blatantly not true. With climate change upon us, any proposed energy plans must be both clean and renewable. Gas is neither of these.

During their proposed regassification process, AGL’s gas terminal will pump millions of litres of chlorinated sea water into Westernport – dead water, on a daily basis. The loss of microscopic life is like the tip of a spear which would harm all of the fauna and flora that live here. We cannot think that we are separate to that damage, it will affect humans too.

My heart is heavy at the prospect that AGL could go ahead with this proposal. The loss is not only for the close community who reside around Westernport but to all the living things. We must continue to stand as a community, loud and strong against projects such as these.

With climate change upon us, it is more important now than ever.

Warren Cooke
@artbycooke

STOP PRESS ~ The EES is out now!

STOP PRESS ~ The EES is out now!

Posted on by Candy van Rood

In 2018 Victorian Minister for Planning Richard Wynne called for an Environment Effects Statement on AGL’s giant gas import proposal in response to community concerns about countless safety and environmental risks.

The EES has now been released and the documents are available online.

Q: Why does AGL continue to publish lovely photos of Westernport on their reports?
We know how beautiful the Bay is. What we need to know is WHAT the spectre of the proposed FSRU ship, 17 storeys tall, would really look like at our beach. The pictures provided by AGL are misleading; they have been cropped and the schematics shown in their EES reports are not to scale.

The Public Comments period for the EES on AGL’s proposal on the Mornington Peninsula commenced on July 2 and will run until August 26 2020.

That’s just 40 business days for submissions, under and a declared Stage 4 State of Disaster. But we must prevent fossil fuels companies like AGL and APA the pipeline corp, from taking advantage of the global pandemic. From the threat to marine life and Endangered Species, to Social and Climate Impacts, there are countless reasons why this project must not be approved.

We encourage you all to make a submission during this time. You can focus on just single area or areas of concern to tell the Minister why you object to AGL’s dangerous and unnecessary plans. 

Or sign up here for support and advice from Save Westernport and Environment Victoria on how to make your submission. 

Minister Wynne needs to hear from this community, and from all Victorians why AGL’s plans to import and process gas, and to construct a 60 km gas pipeline are entirely incompatible with the proposed location in Westernport Bay.

There is nothing that AGL could do to tweak this project to make it acceptable. The government and Victorians have been misled with tales of gas shortages and cheaper prices, with AGL only now admitting that the price of imported gas would be set by international markets.

Rather than helping us transition from fossil fuels as they claim, AGL’s project would keep us burning gas for the next 20 years or more.

This project is the last thing we need. AGL have shown they are not worthy of our trust, and they’ve admitted it will not result in cheaper gas. Why would we risk degrading our precious marine life, when there is NOTHING in it for Victorians? 
This is our chance to tell the Minister why AGL’s project MUST NOT BE APPROVED.

The EES reports are now available online
This includes  AGL’s Summary Report and a document called How to Navigate the EES

There’s an Executive Summary, three volumes of reports, and several attachments including Environmental Risk and Climate Change Risk Assessments and Maps. 
The EES also contains the following technical reports:

Technical Report A: Marine Biodiversity 
Technical Report B: Terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity
Technical Report C: Surface water
Technical Report D: Groundwater
Technical Report E: Contamination and acid sulfate soils
Technical Report F: Greenhouse gas
Technical Report G: Air quality
Technical Report H: Noise and vibration
Technical Report I: Landscape and visual
Technical Report J: Transport
Technical Report K: Safety, hazard and risk
Technical Report L: Land use
Technical Report M: Social
Technical Report N: Business
Technical Report O: Agriculture
Technical Report P: Aboriginal cultural heritage
Technical Report Q: Historic heritage


Watch this space for more information about how to write your submission —and make sure your voice is heard.

This is our opportunity to tell Minister Wynne that we unequivocally object to the AGL corporation and their brazen and foolhardy attempt to take-over Woolleys Beach and exploit Westernport Bay to promote and prolong the burning of LNG, a fossil fuel just as dangerous as coal.

There are numerous reasons why we have no intention of allowing this irresponsible corporation’s plans to harm our precious environment and endanger the health and safety of local communities.

Make a submission or Donate now towards our fighting fund. Your donations will help pay for our own experts to refute the various technical reports and to take on AGL with their limitless resources at the public Hearings for the EES.

An overview of environmental impact assessment under the Environment Effects Act 1978

An overview of environmental impact assessment under the Environment Effects Act 1978

Posted on by Candy van Rood

Courtesy of Environmental Justice Australia

To read this important ‘Having your say’ paper, please go to this link
Please note that although these fact sheets focus on mines and quarries, the Environment Effects Statement (EES)
process will be the same for the AGL gas import project.

~the people sign~rally for Westernport ~POSTPONED

~the people sign~rally for Westernport ~POSTPONED

Posted on by Candy van Rood

Like everyone else, Save Westernport and Environment Victoria have been closely following the developments around COVID-19 and public health advice.

To reduce the risk to all of us of being exposed to the virus and ensure that our events are safe for everybody, we have made the decision to postpone the People Sign Beach Rally that was planned for Sunday March 29 on Somers Beach.

Instead, we will be meeting online on March 29 at 7:30pm to discuss our visions for protecting Westernport permanently from heavy industrialisation and pollution. You can RSVP here.

We believe this is the most responsible thing to do to ensure that we are not contributing to the spread of the virus, and to protect our collective health and all those that we have contact with in our daily lives. 

We are disappointed that these circumstances mean we can’t all gather together on March 29th but we are still excited about getting together online to talk about our visions for protecting our Bay permanently from heavy industrialisation and pollution.

You can RSVP here. Here is a how-to guide demonstrating how to use zoom for online meetings. If you would like a call beforehand to discuss how to use zoom, let us know by responding to this email. 

Even though COVID-19 has put a temporary break on our in-person protests and actions we are not giving up the fight. We will simply find new ways to express our outrage together and tell AGL to drop their plans for a gas import terminal in our Bay.

We will confirm new dates for the People Sign so that it can proceed at a later date that is safe for everyone.

Key things for your action now:

  1. RSVP to the zoom call.
  2. Let us know if you need a call from us to help you use zoom.

Can’t make this time? We will host a second webinar. Click here to let us know which time works for you.

If you have any questions, please contact me by responding to this email.

In solidarity, 
Victor Komarovsky
And the teams at Environment Victoria and Save Westernport

Stop AGL Westernport Summer Action Launch

Stop AGL Westernport Summer Action Launch

Posted on by Candy van Rood

Come to our
Stop AGL
Westernport Summer
Action Launch!

Join us at Somers Hall for afternoon tea
with others who care about
our precious and unique Westernport environment. 

Westernport needs you! 

Find out about our campaign to protect
the Bay’s Internationally recognized wetlands,
its spectacular creatures and ecosystems
from the threat of AGL’s heavy industry.

Sunday December 1st, 2019

2-4pm 

afternoon tea

Somers Hall, RW Stone Pavilion,
68 Camp Hill Road
Somers

                                        *Please Note the 2pm start time, not Midday as reported elsewhere*

Save Westernport Congratulates Mornington Peninsula Shire Council

Save Westernport Congratulates Mornington Peninsula Shire Council

Posted on by Julia Stockigt

 

Members of Save Westernport were encouraged by the strong leadership shown by our local Mornington Peninsula Shire Council recently when it followed the lead of Melbourne City Council and other Councils world-wide and voted to implement urgent Climate Emergency measures.

The specter of vast areas of the world’s forests ablaze, and enormous amounts of safely stored carbon being suddenly released into Earth’s atmosphere seems to have made us acutely aware of the decisive action that is so desperately overdue.

Save Westernport welcomes the announcement, and we look forward to seeing Council translate good intentions into meaningful changes in the everyday actions of the Shire and its residents. We want to see real change that will make a difference. 

It’s clear that the Shire’s goals are entirely incompatible with any new investment in fossil-fuels, yet AGL is still trying to force its inappropriate industrial proposal on to this community. AGL’s plan to import and process LNG in Westernport Bay is hopelessly out-of-date. The plan requires construction of a 56km gas pipeline that would quickly become another rusting example of poorly planned abandoned industry in the area. This is the last thing that Westernport needs right now that the bay is showing good signs of regeneration since the local oil industry was phased out in the 1980s.

AGL admits that shipping gas from overseas and processing it at the proposed Crib Point factory would produce at least 20% more carbon and methane pollution than regular gas, which is a fossil fuel already dangerously high in greenhouse gases.

In order to align with the aims of the Shire, future industrial proposals will need to be founded on energy from the renewable energy resources that are now available. 

It’s been a whole year since Mornington Peninsula Shire Council stated its opposition to the AGL gas proposal and 56km pipeline, yet this inappropriate and deeply unpopular fossil-fuels project is still being forced upon the Westernport community.

There can be no doubt that by its actions AGL is causing irreversible damage to its reputation and brand. It’s widely acknowledged that AGL has failed to show that its plan to import gas is even necessary. They have also failed to achieve the social license needed to operate in this community.

AGL CEO Brett Redman has claimed that social license is among his top strategic goals for the year, yet AGL continues to disregard the widely expressed local opposition by stubbornly pushing ahead with the project.

AGL claims to take its environmental responsibility very seriously. Save Westernport would like to see AGL take advantage of its unique opportunity and demonstrate real corporate integrity by withdrawing from the Crib Point project. We will continue to urge the AGL Board to cooperate with this community and heed its wishes by putting their Crib Point plans in the bin.

Next Friday September 20, Save Westernport will participate in the Schools Strike for Climate in Melbourne. For the first time, school kids  have invited adults to join the Strike and support their demands for a better world and immediate action against Climate Change. We invite you to march with Save Westernport. Look out for our SAVE WESTERNPORT – No AGL -banner at 2pm next Friday in the Treasury Gardens.

You can also visit our stall at Balnarring’s Sustainability Fair on Saturday October 12 from 4pm. Come and say hello and pick up our new brochure and some of our new stickers for your wheelie bins. The stickers tell AGL to put their plans for their Crib Point gas factory In The Bin! where they belong.

Remember—You can now hit the TAKE ACTION button on our Home Page and scroll down to Become a Member of Save Westernport for the value price of $10.
Fill in our Online Form or download it, and you’ll receive our regular Save Westernport Newsletter that details our activities and what’s going on locally around Westernport and the Peninsula. 
You can also very simply make an online donation.

One more thing— you may receive our regular Save Westernport Newsletters and email updates, but that does not necessarily mean you’re a Member of Save Westernport. Perhaps you signed our petition or filled out a card, or you might’ve given your contact details to go on our mailing list once, but this is different—To become a Member you’ll need to fill out our Membership Form.

Becoming a Member of Save Westernport is a great way for you to make a difference. By taking action you can show your support and help our important work furthering the protection and appreciation of our precious, unique wetland location in beautiful Westernport Bay.

Right now, more than ever we need to keep up the pressure on AGL and the government, and make sure they know that this community rejects inappropriate industry in the Bay, PARTICULARLY the AGL gas import plans at Crib Point. 

Save Westernport is a dedicated group of local volunteers, and your support keeps us going! Make an online donation

Or if you’d like to get involved and become a Volunteer we’d love to meet you!

With summer coming up, there will be lots going on, and you can get involved. From helping with market stalls to providing transport, there’s always lots to do. And if you’re a photographer of local landscapes or wildlife, we want to hear from you.

We appreciate your support to Save Westernport!

Mornington Peninsula Shire Concerned About AGL’s Plans