An e-petition has been floating through online channels urging people to sign in opposition of the proposed Southern Ocean offshore wind zone.
The online document, which has received over 3500 signatures, was created by Southern Coast Ocean Care, comprising a group of Port MacDonnell locals who formed to fight against the proposed zone.
The consultation period for the Southern Ocean offshore wind zone held by Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen recently closed.
Minister Bowen will now decide whether the proposed area, which is 300km of coast from Warrnambool to Port MacDonnell, is suitable for offshore renewable energy developments.
Southern Coast Ocean Care member Suzie Fulham said she was “really hopeful” the e-petition would reach its goal of 10,000 signatures.
“I think the way it is moving up we will definitely get very, very close,” she said.
“The petition goes for four weeks and we are almost at the halfway mark.
“When we all put in our submissions with Chris Bowen, which finished on the 31st of August, we then have 10 weeks to wait until we are declared – or not declared – depending on what Chris Bowen decides on.
“We decided to start a petition because if we get 10,000 signatures we can take the petition to the Federal Court.
“We did not want to wait until actually being declared and then had to start that petition then and we thought why not?
“We have got 10 weeks to wait so we thought let’s get out there and see how many people we can get to sign this e-petition.
“So far most people that know about it have been on board.”
Mrs Fulham said there were a number of ways to access the e-petition.
“There will be posters all over town, there are a few different shops that have them up already and we have listed those on our Facebook page,” she said.
“In Port MacDonnell, pretty much every shop will have a poster in them.
“However, if people do not know where to find the petition, heading onto our Southern Coast Ocean Care Facebook page, there will be lots of different links.
“If people are not comfortable using the QR code or do not have those facilities, if they do go onto our Facebook page there are links on there as well where they can just type it directly into their computer.
“It is an e-signature though so it’s not a handwritten petition so there is nothing where you can actually write it down anywhere.”
Mrs Fulham is encouraging everyone to sign and share the petition.
“We’re really encouraging everybody to, once they have filled in the petition, to actually share it to their friends and family who might not know about it,” she said.
“The more we talk about it, the more we share it and the more we get straight on and do it, the better.
“We certainly do not want to leave it to the last day to get 10,000.
“I just want to thank everybody that has jumped on board so quickly and all the businesses that are putting up the posters in their shops.
“The overall support that we have had from the whole Limestone Coast has been amazing, nobody wants to see our pristine coastline changed and we certainly would like to not see it happen here at all.”
