1225-1239 Swan Bay Road, Swan Bay, VIC

This is residential planning by stealth. A few this year sets a precedent, for a few more in the following year and so it begins. This is a pristine area and should not be used to provide permanent accommodation so close to Swan Bay.

This is pristine Swan Bay.
Home and refuge to hundreds of species of birds, marine life and plants.
A RAMSAR listed wetland of international significance.

This is not an area which is suited for holiday cabins.

Please ensure the protection of this fragile ecosystem. This amendment should not be approved by the City of Greater Geelong.

Please be mindful of restrained development. This area is a beautiful sanctuary for wildlife. We can not continue to develop for $$$ and destroy the beautiful surroundings that attract people to live here. Stand up for the environment say no to unnecessary development. Please

Swan Bay is a beautiful place where you can see a huge flock of birds take refuge almost everyday.

It's protection is key to the ecosystems that thrive there. If we do not treat such places with the respect they deserve, the effects will be disastrous to the wildlife and plantlife that currently reside in the bay.

Our fight against global warming is to partially limit/hopefully end the harmful practices we as humans have in place and the other part is to simply protect the beautiful nature that is still intact and probably plays a bigger role than we can imagine.

Buildings and other human made structures do not have a place in Swan Bay.

Swan Bay is beautiful and should be left for all to enjoy as well as protecting the environment.
We need to protect our environment and wildlife and take care not to destroy the Bellarine

Please look after this beautiful area of the Bellarine Peninsula. Swan Bay needs to be in great condition to preserve our RAMSAR obligations.

I learned recently via Bellarine Land Care that wetlands are the most efficient carbon sinks on earth. Wetlands hold 30% of all land- based carbon – twice the amount than all the world's forests combined. Fragile RAMSAR ecosystems, like Swan Bay, are key to combatting the ravages of the climate emergency. Do not allow expanded use of land for permanent dwellings.

Please do not allow permanent dwellings to be erected in this fragile environment. RAMSAR wetlands are part of what makes the Bellarine Peninsula so unique and special. If they are not protected properly, with every possible measure made to sustain the delicate ecological balance, the consequences could be dire. We are in a vitally important moment here - any such development sets a dangerous precedent for other delicate parts of our local ecosystem to be developed too, losing the very essence of what makes this place so special. Please protect our environment for future generations and for the rich biodiversity it holds.

The edge of a RAMSAR site is an inappropriate place for expanded settlement. Humans bring predatory pets that create disturbances and lower habitat quality. Ecological studies have shown that threatening stimuli have a deleterious impact on wildlife, significantly affecting birds and other vulnerable coastal species. Increasing water activities and road traffic could also have a detrimental impact on local ecologies and amenities. With few wild places left on the Bellarine, the City of Greater Geelong needs to be vigilant and restrict unnecessary development.

This area should not be developed further. It is imperative that we protect the very few wild areas left on the Bellarine Peninsula. Swan Bay is a RAMSAR site and it provides an internationally important refuge for local and migratory birds. The bay and its surrounding saltmarsh MUST be preserved in a natural state. Saltmarsh is one of the most important ecosystems to protect if we are to have any chance at mitigating the effects of climate change. It is a huge carbon sink and helps protect our coastline from rising sea levels and storm events. It also filters pollution, acts as a fish nursery and provides habitat for the critically endangered orange bellied parrot. Please do not allow this development to go ahead - the effects on the natural environment will be disastrous.

These Ramsar wetlands should not be encroached on. The intended buildings will do nothing for the health of the fragile ecosystems in the area or for the poor people who may end up living in such a challenging environment.

We must do all we can to protect this fragile RAMSAR wetland and the native vegetation and landscape of the Bellarine Peninsula. There is already much building and residential development in the area nearby. Further escalating development in this area will be detrimental to this beautiful and environmentally significant area. Please think about who this development will actually benefit....the environment and people who will be living in this low cost accommodation....or the developers.

I have been greatly enjoying walking around swan bay over the summer months and I have researched the importance of wetlands to all species from the smallest right through to humans. Wetlands, birds and water quality are incredibly sensitive to pollution and disruption by humans nearby. It is very grim to risk this renowned wetland. The cost to nature, which supports human life, without which we could not exist is unwise. The effects will be felt by the wetland and its inhabitants as it’s a sensitive ecosystem. I have been reading about the effects wetland destruction has had on Norfolk Island’s Emily bay. That should be a lesson to us all on the importance of wetlands. We are all interconnected and everything has to go somewhere. We can’t risk water quality effects and bird migration patterns and I think we need to consider our future generations and the environment we owe it to them to leave behind when we are gone.