2020 Year in Review: October-December

OCTOBER 1: THE Torquay Surf Life Saving Club (TSLSC) was leading from the front as summer approached, with its members among the first surf life saving clubs in Victoria to be allowed to resume training. The initial elements of TSLSC’s COVID-Safe Plan were approved by Life Saving Victoria.

OCTOBER 8: THE Coalition said it had put jobs and investment at the heart of the latest Federal Budget. The Budget includes $292 million towards the $365 million duplication of Barwon Heads Road from Settlement Road to Reserve Road and more than $600 million for stage 2 of the Geelong rail duplication between Waurn Ponds and South Geelong.

OCTOBER 15: SOUTHERN Rural Water issued the owner of the private dam next to Pintail Drive a direction of notice to repair the dam by November 30 or have it decommissioned. About 100 residents were evacuated from their houses on October 2 after three Pintail Drive properties had their yards flooded.

OCTOBER 22: LIMITED household visits were now allowed and hospitality venues could host as many as 110 patrons in the latest easing of coronavirurs restrictions in regional Victoria. Premier Daniel Andrews announced the changes – which went beyond the Third Step on the state’s coronavirus roadmap – on October 18.

OCTOBER 29: COMMUNITY groups in Torquay strongly pushed back against claims of possible benefits to development in Spring Creek, saying the proposals were misleading and had no support from locals. If part of Torquay’s western town boundary is brought back to Duffields Road, it will invalidate the Spring Creek Precinct Structure Plan (PSP) and stop developers from building on that land.

NOVEMBER 5: THE state government announced the inaugural board for the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority. The authority has been created to co-ordinate the public land along the entirety of the Great Ocean Road. Former Surf Coast Shire mayor and Victorian Coastal Council chair Libby Mears was appointed chair.

NOVEMBER 12: WINDS of change swept through the Surf Coast Shire council, with new faces winning seven of the nine seats in this year’s council election. The new council is Gary Allen, Libby Stapleton, Mike Bodsworth, Kate Gazzard, Liz Pattison, Rose Hodge, Paul Barker, Heather Wellington and Adrian Schonfelder.

NOVEMBER 19: THE Great Ocean Road got a massive injection of funding to keep being great, with the State Budget including $272.4 million to upgrade the road itself as well as its inland routes. The upgrades would also improve key roads which support the dairy industry in Victoria’s south-west.

NOVEMBER 26: THE GENERAL public were invited to make submissions supporting or opposing development in Spring Creek valley. A draft Statement of Planning Policy set out two distinct options for the ecologically diverse area, which will form the basis for the overall Surf Coast Distinctive Area and Landscape.

DECEMBER 3: VICTORIAN Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson said she would recommend federal funding for Torquay’s proposed $38.5 million aquatic centre be reallocated unless Surf Coast Shire councillors “urgently” developed an alternate plan. The council was yet to decide its position on the issue.

DECEMBER 10: VICTORIANS now only needed to wear masks in “a limited number of places” in a major easing of the state’s coronavirus restrictions, which came into effect just before midnight on December 6. Several other “COVIDSafe Summer” restrictions also came into effect, including having up to 30 visitors in the home.

DECEMBER 17: SOME residents of The Quay and Quay 2 hailed the Surf Coast Shire’s decision to soon take down the remaining roadblocks in Torquay North and held a small celebration on December 13. Councillors resolved to remove the barriers at Inshore Drive, Marine Drive and Glengarry Drive this month.

DECEMBER 24: POLICE urged residents and visitors to Torquay this summer to shake off the “tangible complacency” of not locking their cars and houses. Thefts from houses and motor vehicles are a perennial issue in the town and Acting Inspector Aaron Riches said people were still not heeding the need to take responsibility for their valuables.

DECEMBER 31: : LORNE Community Hospital called for support of its annual appeal as rural medical services continue to face pressures due to the pandemic. The hospital’s appeal has been running for more than 20 years, and funds raised are used to provide services and equipment not covered by government funding.