This past week has shown that planning and land use issues remain at the top of the agenda for our community.

When Planning Minister, Mathew Guy, unexpectantly announced last week that he would rezone coastal farmland in Ventnor and open up 23 hectares for residential development, the community and Council were perplexed.

Over the past week, the community and Council collaborated to do all possible to see that this did not happen.  People from across the Shire who came together to lobby the Minster for Planning made a difference and I commend and congratulate everyone who took part. There were members of local lobby groups, interested individuals, friends of friends and also people from across the State who kept messages circulating through the media to present the merit of our case.

Social media spreads information quickly and is now used in all types of campaigns. Local family connections to a pop star encouraged her to tweet a message which brought another wave of interest in the rezoning. While this was not part of a planned campaign, it encouraged young people and those connected to facebook to get involved in supporting preservation of our environment and this is a good thing. Council will now work with the Minister to gazette Amendment C93 of the Bass Coast Strategic Coastal Planning Framework, which sets the town boundaries for ten of our coastal communities.  

As Bass Coast continues to grow it requires changes in land use, so I encourage individuals to continue to be involved in planning decisions through the community consultation processes of Council. Last week was not only a victory for preservation of the Ventnor land and the eight years of strategic planning that went into C93,  it showed the value of community consultation in planning policy and that our community is prepared to stand beside Council to defend it.

I would also like to thank the Minister for listening and responding to the voice of the community.