PORT PHILLIP CONSERVATION COUNCIL INC. Telephone +61397890598, +61429176725                     18 Anita Street, BEAUMARIS VIC 3193 Facsimile +61395891680                                                                         ggd@netspace.net.au A0020093K Victoria                                                                      www.vicnet.net.au/~phillip ABN 46 291 176 191                                                                                    5th March 2002

Dear Sir/Madam,

SCORESBY FREEWAY Nos 2002/580 and 2002/581

Port Phillip Conservation Council Inc., a federation of 14 conservation organizations around Port Phillip Bay, requests that a federal environmental assessment be made of the proposed Scoresby Freeway, and that it should be classified as "a controlled action" under the above Act. We believe that the project should also be assessed in its totality, as it is one freeway, not two.

Port Phillip Conservation Council Inc. made the nomination to the Australian Heritage Commission that resulted in the eventual registration of the Edithvale-Chelsea-Seaford Wetlands on the Register of the National Estate.

Vic Roads' Referral Form implies that the proposal has already been approved by an EES.  We understand that that process was incomplete, and that the panel recommended that the Frankston end of the freeway should not be built.

Our principal concern, and that of several of our Member Organizations in the area of the wetlands, is the Seaford Wetlands, which is now a Ramsar listed site that provides habitat for a range of migratory waders protected under the international treaties JAMBA and CAMBA. We understand that a comprehensive list of bird species that have long used these wetlands were provided to you by . The proposed freeway surfaces and the elevated bridges involved will produce undesirable effects on the hydrology and landscape of the area.

Yours sincerely,
 
 

Geoffrey Goode
President
Port Phillip Conservation Council Inc.
 

cc.  Hon. David Kemp MHR, Minister for Heritage and Environment; Ms Ann Corcoran MHR, Member for Isaacs