Southern Peninsula YOUR GUIDE TO WHAT’S ON THIS WEEKEND FOR PENINSULA FAMILIES
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Wednesday 13 April 2022
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YEAR two students at Our Lady of Fatima Primary School Laarni and Guyan during Harmony Day. Picture: Supplied
Harmony in colour STUDENTS from schools around the Mornington Peninsula participated in Harmony Day at the end of March, getting involved in a range of activities linked to the theme of diversity and inclusiveness. On Friday 25 March, parents and friends of Our Lady of Fatima Primary School in Rosebud held a crazy colour fun run, where the rainbow of colours added to the celebration of diversity. The money raised will be used to buy resources for the school’s lunchtime club, which promotes a welcoming and inclusive environment for all children on the yard.
Shire calls for delay on reef Liz Bell liz@mpnews.com.au
COASTAL groups are pinning their hopes on pressure from the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council to delay an artificial reef being installed off Port Nepean. The groups are concerned about the impact of the reef on the environment and lack of community consultation. As part of a plan to improve fish stocks for recreational fishers, the
Victorian Fishing Authority wants to install 16 large concrete structures in clusters of four about 50 metres apart in the ocean north of Observatory Point, at Point Nepean. The council has sided with residents and beach users concerned about the reef and is urging fishing and boating minister Melissa Horne to hold off on the plan. Chair of the Rye Community Group Alliance, Mechelle Cheers, said the council’s support had given opponents of the reef “a fair bit of hope”.
“For a minister to ignore the request of a local council would be outrageous,” she said. In a letter to the minister dated 30 March, the mayor Cr Anthony Marsh said members of the Portsea, Sorrento and Rye Coastal advisory groups, alongside the broader community, had expressed “significant concerns” about the planned artificial reef. The letter calls for more information on the potential environment and water safety impacts to be made publicly available.
Ms Cheers said there was an expectation of community consultation about matters likely to affect marine communities, but “that hasn't happened” and there was no evidence of any environmental assessment study. “We only heard about this reef when we read it in The News, it’s been pushed through quietly because of the powerful recreational fishing lobby groups,” she said. “We are simply asking for the installation to be put on hold until the questions are answered. It's not a big ask
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for such a sensitive part of the bay.” The push for an artificial reef has largely been led by the government body the Victorian Fisheries Association, and the Futurefish Foundation, which describes itself online as “a fearless watchdog” representing recreational fishers, with an aim to “protect and enhance” recreational fishing throughout Victoria. One of its mandates is to increase the number of artificial reefs in all parts of Port Phillip. Continued Page 12