The first matter listed by Environment Australia that PPCC Inc. seeks federal involvement in is the proposal by the Victorian Channels Authority to deepen the full length of Port Phillip's major shipping channel, including The Rip section. The deepening is to increase the draught of container ships able to use the Port of Melbourne. PPCC Inc. has had no information from the Authority on this matter apart from the invitation it accepted to a 2001 information evening. There, tentative and very preliminary reports were put forward by consultants, which suggested that the average, not the peak, increase in high tide maximum levels would be some 20 mm. No satisfactory account was received of spoil disposal or turbidity impact. The Authority's Web site at www.vicchannels.vic.gov.au gives as yet only a meagre idea of the environmental effects of the deepening proposal. 

The second matter was the VicRoads proposal to build the southern section of the proposed Scoresby Freeway close to the Seaford Wetlands. The new hard surfaces, and bridge works, would create hydrological changes that could harm the Wetlands area. Independent, expert scrutiny of VicRoads single-minded proposal is necessary if Australia's international obligations under the United Nations' Ramsar Convention are to be met. As well as its recent Ramsar listing promoted by the Friends of Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands Inc., the Wetlands are also inscribed on the Register of the National Estate, at the earlier nomination of PPCC Inc. 
 
 

PPCC Inc. has written to Mornington Peninsula Shire Council objecting to its proposal to build a Skateboard and BMX bicycle riding facility on the public foreshore reserve near the Rye Jetty. 

Grounds for the objection include: 

· squandering scarce foreshore reserve land for a use that is not water-dependent (contrary to longstanding Government management policy), 

· removal of numerous trees on the foreshore, and 

· a land cover of over 1000 square metres of concrete. 
 
 

The leading feature article in The Geelong Advertiser of 29th November 2001 was entitled "Hands off our coast - Urban development threatens bayside land". It appeared under the name of Geoffrey Goode, President of Port Phillip Conservation Council Inc. The 600-word article was accompanied by a 150 mm square photograph with the caption, "Point Wilson remains a largely untouched part of our coastline". 

A major theme of the article was explanation of PPCC Inc. Policy Statement No. 12 "Remnant Large Open Space Land Parcels in Port Phillip Catchment Area", and the reasons we, and our key Member Organization, Geelong Environment Council Inc., strongly oppose a bridge or tunnel across Corio Bay. 

The article said, "An issue the Conservation Council has identified as being unrecognized by our public authorities is the lack of a clear policy to retain as open rural space, in the public interest, the very few large parcels of coastal open space that still remain around Port Phillip". 
 
 

For the International Year of Volunteers, 2001, Port Phillip Conservation Council Inc. was fortunate to receive, in response to its application, a federal grant that provided for the purchase of two new computers each with a printer and scanner. A 3 megapixel digital camera and a CD/DVD burner were also purchased with the grant. The items will be used very effectively in their work by senior office-bearers, and PPCC Inc. is most grateful for this worthwhile grant.