Regional reopening: Mornington Peninsula trapped by ‘lines on a map’
There have been no new coronavirus infections on the Mornington Peninsula for 14 days, yet the region is still trapped by Melbourne’s draconian lockdown and curfew. A letter to Premier Daniel Andrews has finally revealed why.
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The decision to include the Mornington Peninsula in the world’s longest coronavirus lockdown was made based on “lines on a map” and not for medical reasons, the mayor says.
Mayor Sam Hearn said the shire was told by the Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton that the “rational for our inclusion in metropolitan Melbourne’s Stage 4 occurred purely because of lines on an administrative map – and were not because of any COVID-19 specific restrictions”.
Cr Hearn revealed the reason behind the decision was made clear in an August 19 letter to the shire.
“Stage 4 restrictions were implemented across the Department’s metropolitan region, including all metropolitan local government areas (LGA). This includes Mornington Peninsula, despite the nomenclature of being a Shire. All non-metropolitan region LGAs were not included in the Stage 4 restrictions.” the letter states.
The decision and an ongoing refusal to rethink the shire’s inclusion in the Stage 4 restrictions and curfew blanketing metropolitan Melbourne made “no epidemiological sense’ and posed “serious health risks”. Cr Hearn said.
A letter to Premier Daniel Andrews – released on Friday by Cr Hearn – argued that Mornington Peninsula had met State Government benchmarks for moving to Stage 1, including recording no new coronavirus infections in 14 days.
The region had just two active cases on Friday.
Cr Hearn said the current lockdown “exacerbates the future COVID-19 health risk”.
“Whereas other areas in regional Victoria are able to prepare now for greater numbers later, there is no capacity for Peninsula businesses to prepare and practice Covid Safe business plans now as they are simply locked down,” he said.
He said the failure to release the region was also creating a “massive bushfire risk”.
Mornington Peninsula has a large number of vacant houses and Cr Hearn feared winter rains and warmer weather would generate “huge, unmanaged grass and bush growth” in the lead up to summer.
“If owners cannot visit, then surely our restrictions can be eased so local tradespeople can operate alone outside to repair the house and remove undergrowth and fire hazards,” Cr Hearn said.
He urged Mr Andrews to reconsider the decision not to release Mornington Peninsula from lockdown along with the rest of country and regional Victoria.
“It makes no sense on several levels and is unsafe,” Cr Hearn said.
His call was echoed by the Committee for Mornington Peninsula.
President Shannon Smit said the committee and residents wanted clarity about why Mornington Peninsula was included in the metropolitan lockdown despite having less cases than some regional areas that were open for trading.
Colac Otway has 14 active cases, Greater Geelong has three active cases, Greater Bendigo has one active case and Ballarat has no active cases.
There were two active cases on the Mornington Peninsula on Friday.
A State Government spokeswoman said there were different road maps for metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria because each area was experiencing the virus differently.
“We understand that everyone is making huge sacrifices, but this strategy is working, and we are driving cases down,” she said.
“We have seen how quickly this virus can spread and it is critical that we continue to slow movement across our metropolitan suburbs and regional towns and between these areas to slow the spread of the virus, so we can take cautious steps towards reopening guided by dates and data.”
Premier Daniel Andrews has been contacted for comment about the Mornington Peninsula’s unique situation.
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