Angair was again represented at the Alcoa Community Consultation Network meeting in August, as were many other Anglesea community organisations.
Alcoa will continue to convene regular meetings to inform the Anglesea Community on the mine rehabilitation and power station decommissioning progress. Alcoa has recently announced that the Anglesea Power Station was shut down on Friday, 21 August 2015.
A summary of the minutes of the May and July meetings are available on the Alcoa website www.alcoa.com/anglesea. I expect the August meeting summary to be posted soon.
Angair was also represented at the first “public conversations” meeting organised by the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP), and the Surf Coast Shire. The meetings have been convened to enable public discussion of possible future uses of the mined area. The next meeting will be on Saturday, 26 September starting at 10.00 a.m.
A planning permit application to build a propagation shed at the Community Precinct has been submitted to the Surf Coast Shire. Many thanks to Nick Walter, who has worked with the Propagation Committee on an appropriate shed design, and spent many hours drawing professional plans, checking site details and completing the considerable paperwork associated with this process. The Angair Fund Trustees have decided that donations made this year will go towards the relocation of the propagation facilities.
Angair and Friends of Eastern Otways were invited to attend a farewell and “thank you” morning tea for Elise Jeffery at Parks Vic Office. Elise was Environmental Officer at Alcoa for thirteen years, and worked closely with both Angair and FEO on conservation of the Anglesea Heath. We thanked Elise for her considerable contribution in maintaining and enhancing the local environment and wished her well in any future ventures.
Jan Juc Coast Action Group has produced an interactive online search tool to identify hundreds of weeds and indigenous plants along the coast in our area. I recommend you check this latest resource by going to the web address: http://www.scnaturesearch.com.au/
Peter Forster