Bass Coast Council seeks emergency powers to stop “piecemeal loss” of nationally significant Western Port Woodlands

“It's a place our great grandchildren should be able to visit and enjoy. We need to look after it.”

Author

Jacob Wallace
June 22, 2026

Bass Coast Shire Council has once again urged the state government for new powers to protect the Western Port Woodlands from habitat loss as mining companies seek to clear native vegetation for new developments.

What happened: Last week, Bass Coast councillors unanimously voted to write again to the Minister for Planning, Sonya Kilkenny, urging her to expedite the assessment process they requested in May to place an Environmental Significance Overlay (ESO) over part of the Woodlands.

All that’s left: The Western Port Woodlands are Victoria's largest remnant of intact coastal woodlands. They stretch from Lang Lang to Grantville along the eastern shore of Western Port Bay.

  • The council is seeking an interim ESO over part of the woodlands that will expire on May 31 2028, allowing the shire time to determine the scope of new permanent planning controls to protect the woodlands.

The area Bass Coast Shire Council is seeking an interim ESO for.

Save Western Port Woodlands campaigner Catherine Watson told the Monitor she was delighted the council is pushing for interim protection.

🗣️ “We know they're doing the work for permanent protection, but the woodlands will continue to be whittled away in the meantime if there's no interim measure in place,” Watson said.

  • Only the Victorian Minister for Planning can grant such interim controls.

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Longterm consideration: Councillor Jon Temby told the Monitor the woodlands are “the last refuge for a large number of endangered species. It's a place our great grandchildren should be able to visit and enjoy. We need to look after it.”

  • Temby said the woodlands were home to native and endangered species like the powerful owl, southern brown bandicoot and blue wing parrot.

Temby said mining company Heidelberg Materials is waiting on work approvals to clear native vegetation around Stanley and McGrady Roads for a new mine, but an ESO would give the council the ability to stop the development.

🗣️"Victoria is the most cleared state in Australia, with 14 million hectares of forest being cleared since European settlement, and this habitat destruction is still occurring."

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Incremental loss: Councillor Tim O'Brien said the interim controls were necessary to stop the incremental loss of the woodlands habitat. 

🗣️“Its the piecemeal loss of habitat, which is continuing to punch holes in the woodlands and each time it punches a hole it puts at risk the ecology and the vulnerable and endangered species.”

Cover image credit: The Western Port Intertidal Coastal Reserve at Temby Point by Tran Sformr, 2022.