FLINDERS MP Greg Hunt years ago added his voice to those fighting to stop Melbourne Water discharging partially treated sewage into the sea near Gunnamatta.
The protesters, led by the Clean Ocean Foundation, successfully forced Melbourne Water to lift its wastewater treatment to Class A, although hundreds of thousands of litres of water are still pumped daily through the ocean outfall.
However, more uses are being found for the recycled water and Mr Hunt was pleased to visit Mornington Golf Club this month where $300,000 from the federal government is being used to bring water to storage dams.
Recycled water will be pumped through a pipeline to the dam from where the outfall passes Emil Madsen Reserve on Wooralla Drive, Mt Eliza.
The golf club is adding another $300,000 to the project which “will be used to improve ecological outcomes for the course, the community surrounding the golf club, as well as provide consistent water supply in case of emergency”, Mr Hunt said.
“One of my proudest endeavours as an MP was working with the local community to clean up the Gunnamatta outflow.
“Now, this much improved recycled water will be put to good use on the peninsula.”
Golf club President Roger Crossland said the club had been speaking with businesses close to the pipeline “with regards to any possible shared benefits they may derive from the installation of the pipeline {from Mt Eliza]”.
The club’s general manager Craig Murdoch predicted the first flow of recycled water into the dams “will be noted as one of the [club’s] most important achievements and pivotal moments”.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 21 January 2020
