The following was sent to me by Gillian Collins
A petition against the Bypass has, so far, garnered over 900 signatures and has been presented to Parliament by Jude Perera, our local MP. Another group in South Frankston have 400 signatures on a petition that they have submitted to Southern and Eastern Integrated Transport Authority (SEITA) , and we have submitted documentation that ours have been certified by Parliament, and have asked that they be counted. Since SEITA counted the golf course petition signatures as individual submissions in the Phase One, they cannot do otherwise.
This week we brought some of the issues against the Bypass to the Frankston City Council Major Projects Committee, and I think we got a fair hearing. It looks as though there was no allocation towards it in this year's budget, but we need to look further into that.
One of the results of raising the profile of the anti-Bypass feelings is that the pro-Bypass folk are now starting to campaign. The Chamber of Commerce has a petition that looks remarkably like ours but in favour of it, and they have written to SEITA saying we are "ill-informed!" One of our local Council members is now going to the press with quite unbelievable comments about the Flora and Fauna Reserve being a "wasteland!"
We continue to work on gathering signatures on our petition and generating stories in the press. Next week we are having a community meeting at the school closest to the Reserve to celebrate biodiversity and urge our neighbours to make submissions and contact their elected representatives.
We would appreciate any submissions to the Southern and Eastern Integrated Transpoiort Authority (SEITA) web site: www.seita.com.au. Every one counts, no matter how brief.
For further information: e-mail Gillian Collins at gillianuu [AT] dodo.com.au
See also Australian Wildlife Protection Council submission to the SEITA
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