We are grateful that our venue tonight, for our General Meeting west of the Yarra, was secured by our Member Organization, Friends of Williamstown Wetlands Inc., through the generosity of Hobsons Bay Council. I regret to report that attendance for our 2001 Annual General Meeting was lower than desirable – something we must ensure is not repeated. The PPCC Inc. Committee of Management has not been able to agree upon the draft Policy Statement, 'Private Buildings, such as "Bathing Boxes" on Public Foreshore Land', that I reported to the April 2001 General Meeting was still being developed by the Committee. Although the Committee has recognized that PPCC Inc. Policy Statement 7, 'Proposed New or Expanded Commercial Operations on Foreshore Reserves', needs strengthening, there has been no work done there either. The position of Junior Vice-President is still vacant. 

On a more positive note the Committee did authorize a successful application for a Commonwealth Government grant under the International Year of Volunteers program, which resulted in PPCC Inc. receiving a $4,800 grant for two computers, two scanners, two printers, a CD-ROM burner, and a 3 megapixel digital camera. The Committee also approved PPCC Inc. taking another round of aerial colour photographs of the Port Phillip coastline – the last round was in February 1999 - even though it had to pay the cost, as our application for a Coast Action/Coastcare grant was unsuccessful. Last month, Rudi and Allison Kuiter again took the photographs with no cost for their services, and we were grateful to Professor Ian Rae, of Friends of Williamstown Wetlands Inc., for acting as prompter to the photographers, in place of Stephen Morey, who was overseas. A 600-word feature article by me, in the Geelong Advertiser, on 29th November 2001, dealt with PPCC Inc. concerns in the Geelong area. 

This year PPCC Inc. successfully requested that two proposals referred for consideration under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 be declared to require federal scrutiny and approval. They were the Victorian Channels Authority’s proposal to deepen the entire main shipping channel in Port Phillip, and VicRoads’ proposal for the southern section of the Scoresby Freeway that would come close to the Seaford Wetlands, which recently became a Ramsar area. We have written to Mornington Peninsula Shire Council and the Minister for Environment and Conservation maintaining the opposition we expressed earlier to proposals to rebuild, at increased heights of up to 5.7 metres, "bathing boxes" at Mt Martha North that were damaged in a storm in 2000; and also objecting to a proposed skateboard and BMX installation on the Rye foreshore. 

My April 2001 report said that Frankston Council was still proposing a large marina at Oliver's Hill, despite no apparent source for the considerable funds required. Olwen Bawden says strong opposition from Frankston citizens, and PPCC Inc.'s Member Organizations in Frankston and Mt Eliza, continues. The many hectares of the Bay to be filled, and the very big sheds then planned in front of the Olivers Hill cliff, should have given the coup de grâce to these ideas long ago, but Frankston Council is still at it, perhaps as a distraction from other matters. 

The growing impact of "Public Art", signage, and "gentrification" on foreshores raises issues we should prepare for. 

Mt Eliza Association for Environmental Care Inc., whose Annual General Meeting I attended this month with about 100 people present watching a fine new video that MEAFEC Inc. has produced, has appointed two new Nominees to be members of PPCC Inc. Our Committee recommends that Macrae Homestead Coastal Group Inc., whose new President is former PPCC Inc. Vice-President, Len Warfe, be admitted as a Member Organization of PPCC Inc. 

Last year several Committee members attended a useful information day organized by the Victorian Channels Authority. I attended the Annual Dinner of the Association of Bayside Municipalities last week at the invitation of its outgoing President, Cr Ken Beadle, of Bayside, and spoke there, in particular, to the incoming President - another helpful councillor - Cr Margaret Bell of Mornington Peninsula Shire; to Shadow Minister Victor Perton MLA; and to Cr Angela Altair, Mayor of Hobsons Bay. Tomorrow, and on Wednesday, Len Warfe and I will attend the Victorian Coastal Conference, thanks to financial assistance from DNRE and Parks Victoria respectively.