Melbourne’s channel deepening project environmentally acceptable

“We are pleased that the minister has concluded that the project can proceed on an ‘environmentally acceptable basis’ and that it will ‘provide a net benefit to the State of Victoria’,” said Stephen Bradford, CEO of the PoMC. “The minister’s assessment based on the findings of the Supplementary Environment Effects Statement (SEES) Inquiry says the project will achieve ‘infrastructure vital to Victoria’s future prosperity’ and it also confirms that the bay will ‘recover from temporary disturbances’.”

Bradford said the Minister’s endorsement and the Inquiry’s findings were an important milestone for the project and a testament to the SEES as the most comprehensive scientific study of dredging in Port Phillip Bay. “It is a significant achievement for a project which has set the highest benchmark for environmental assessment in Australia,” he said.

Bradford said the port, as part of its prudent review of all the recommendations of the minister and the Inquiry, would carefully examine and refine the project’s Environmental Management Plan which will embody all the necessary safeguards to ensure the effective protection of bay assets.