The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 7

NEWS 7 THE AGE WEDNESDAY 5 JANUARY 2000 Barometer gets down and dirty National Trust pang island hotel I 5. Phillio Island Grand Prix track Penguin chicks may starve while waiting for oily parents By MISHA KETCHELL and PENNY FANNIN As many as 200 fairy penguin chicks will starve to death this week while their parents recover from oil contamination. There is nothing rangers can do to save the chicks before their parents can be released, the Phillip Island Nature Park general manager, Mr Ray Leivers, said yesterday. "There's no point us releasing them because the likelihood Is that they'll go to sea and die. We've got to make sure their feathers are completely free of oil.

I guess we've always had the view that it is Proposed site of 240-room hotel Hs -i -'J' f' it 1 1 i 1 i iLV! j.H I'll. and have gone to lengths to ensure the siting of the hotel will have a minimum impact on the coastal area," he said. "The building will be clad and the trim will be of a non reflective nature and colored to suit the surrounding landscape. "In addition to that, there will be extensive landscaping in keeping with the indigenous species of the area," he said. Mr Jeff Bennett, the development services manager for Bass Coast Shire Council, said the decision to grant a permit was given after plans for the site were put on public display for a month.

More than 20 additional conditions stipulated by the council for the development have been included in the decision to grant a permit. Mr Bennett said the council considered all objections and the additional conditions on the development went some way to tackling objectors' concerns. The conditions related to maximum height, color of materials used, appropriate landscaping, external lighting and the ability for access to be maintained along foreshore areas, he said. Mr Henderson hoped the first section of the $25 million development would be complete by December 2002. There are fears a development will hurt Phillip Island.

By KERRY TAYLOR URBAN AFFAIRS REPORTER Phillip Island's foreshore and rugged southern coastline could come under threat if plans for a 240-room hotel go ahead, the National Trust said yesterday. The trust is objecting to the Bass Coast Shire Council's pre-Christmas decision to grant a permit for Phillip Island Motor Sports to build a four-star hotel, conference centre, restaurant and five accommodation lodges near the grand prix racetrack on the southern part of the island. "We think something as important as this should be going through a much more rigorous assessment," the National Trust conservation manager, Mr Ian Pausacker, said. "It is not an appropriate location (for a hotel) for such a rugged significant landscape. "It's the last relatively untouched part of the island.

If we keep encroaching on this we will end up with an island that loses its appeal," he said. The council approved the decision to grant a permit for the development off Back Beach Road, Ventnor, at its meeting on 21 December 1999. Objectors have 21 days to lodge an appeal with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal before a planning permit is formally granted. "The National Trust will be appealing to VCAT to appeal against the decision to grant a permit for the development," Mr Pausacker said yesterday. The trust did not dispute the need for a high-standard hotel on the island but it should be developed in a built-up area, such as Cowes, he said.

Mr Pausacker said some parts of the development were only 50 metres away from the coastal escarpment edge. "These are the very factors that attract people to Phillip Island and they should be for the- enjoyment of all not just people in the hotel rooms getting a nice view," he said. But Phillip Island Motor Sports chairman, Mr Peter Henderson, said the development would occur with the highest regard for the environment. "We are very conscious of the possible environmental effects unlikely they would get to sea before their chicks die," he said. On Monday night Phillip Island rangers found another dead penguin, the ninth, and captured 53 more penguins A treated penguin Kokoda tourists terrorised said.

"These men were out of control. We were in a situation of sheer terror for 20 "We were lucky to have got away with our lives." Mr Pinch and his wife, Leonie, 51, had gone to Owens Corner to investigate walking the rugged Kokoda Trail. Mr Pinch said the Australians, travelling in three vehicles, were held up by the raskols, who came "straight out of the bush" as the group was about to leave the area. AAP group, Mr Philip Pinch, 55, of Coffs Harbor, in New South Wales, said the raskols had fired shots and were screaming and shouting. He said the 10 tourists, including a child, 4, were abused, kicked, punched and hit with a rifle butt.

They were then robbed of cash, cameras, film, watches, jewellery, shoes, and almost everything else they had with them. "It was a frenzied attack," he By TREVOR CHAPPELL A group of Australians say they were attacked and robbed by frenzied raskols armed with guns and machetes on the Kokoda Trail, in Papua New Guinea, on New Year's Day. The group members were forced out of their vehicles by at least seven bandits and ordered to lie on the ground during a visit to Owens Corner, near Port Moresby, on Saturday. One of several tourists in the contaminated by ah oil spill that first hit rocky coves to the west of the daily penguin parade on Saturday afternoon. Volunteers and staff have since captured and washed 164 oil-affected penguins and they are recovering in the nature park animal hospital.

Mr Leivers said penguins lay one or two eggs and work In pairs, taking it in turns to guard the nest and search for food. He said penguins whose partners are in captivity would stay by their chicks until they began to starve. But then they would return to sea and their abandoned chicks would die. He said the first penguins in the hospital would not be released until late this week when a natural oil balance had returned to their coats. Many birds will remain in captivity for weeks.

Meanwhile marine authorities investigating the oil spill have narrowed their inquiries from 48 to 18 vessels. Of those, five vessels moored in Victoria and eight others around the country were boarded by Investigators who Interviewed crew and took oil samples. A further five ships have left Australian waters. Investigators have arranged for authorities overseas to test the vessels. The Environment Protection Authority said the spilt oil was a type known as bunker fuel.

The chairman of the EPA, Dr Brian Robinson, said that by taking oil from the spill and comparing it to oil taken from the engines of the ships, the EPA should be able to identify the vessel responsible. Dr Robinson said the chemical components In oil produced a fingerprint that identifies the source of the oil, where it was refined and how It was transported. By combining the oil spill's fingerprint with a knowledge of which vessels were in the area and simulating the prevailing tides and currents at the time of the spill, the vessel responsible for the oil spill should be identified, he said. A 20-strong clean-up crew yesterday brought in 40 bales of compressed garden moss to wipe the remaining oil off pebbles at low tide. Incident controller, Captain Dick Cox, estimated the clean-up operation had cost more than $50,000 and said the Marine Board would prosecute the vessel responsible in a bid to recover costs.

AUCTION SAT 22ND JANUARY AT 3 PM i nw spcx'iacuuir new ucsign Pv. ny rvnowneu arcniieas Petrol l.yon Malliicson provides generous living spaces enclosing a protected outdoor deck area with heated swimming pool. 1 BU 3 buihrm) lamily Stormy seas pounded St Kilda Pier yesterday as Victorians bowed their heads into cold south-westerly winds of up to 90kmh. The weather bureau has predicted little relief with winds expected to continue today. A Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster, Scott Williams, said a low in Bass Strait had caused the strong winds.

The record low for January stands at 1 4.6 degrees, recorded in 1 923. picture: craig silutoe home with outlooks to Oelgany Castle He the doll Course. Including permi! for tennis court, hind size sq.m. INSPECT WED 1.00-1.30 PM ft SUN 5.00-5.30 PM All: Liz Jensen 0418 446 228, Lloyd Robinson 0414 441 880 Fugitive banker refused bail (CNR CAMPBELLS RD) AUCTION SAT 15TH JANUARY AT 12 NOON ON NOW CITY 'THE GLEN MOORABBIN irauiuonai mmy sireei-sryie in KJM- iirrTTTfrl peacetui a completely private surrounds Willi tiled 10 spa pool ik North facing sun-drenched lawns. Kelreat-tvoe raked painted timlxT ceilings adorn 2 sep living rooms, one with OFP dining area wet bar the other a kitchen family room.

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He said he was also concerned about an incident'that occurred on 17 December after a magistrate ruled the two men should be extradited to Mexico to face trial on a number of charges. Justice Goldberg said the men's access to lawyers was interrupted and inhibited in a manner that was never explained or justified. Mr Cabal gave evidence that he and Mr Pasini were then held in a court cell and a truck and he returned to Port Philip Prison to find his cell had been searched and left in a mess. By PETER GREGORY CHIEF COURT REPORTER The fugitive Mexican banker, Mr Carlos Cabal, yesterday failed in a bid for bail after a Federal Court judge said extradition orders against him provided a great incentive to escape. But Justice Alan Goldberg said he would allow another bail application by Mr Cabal and his brother-in-law, Mr Marco Pasini, if prison and transport conditions deteriorated.

In a 47-page judgment, Justice Goldberg also warned that bail in similar cases might be warranted if Australia did not provide adequate detention facilities for those held under provisional warrants. 3 ON 12 AN ACnc Mrs Cabal outside court. SAVANEWR1NKLE FREE PANTS $59 --It VICIt1.l 1W II I IS MIIJIV I II IS II A. 1 lx-ach-shack. with ihc ftx-us on a laid buck' beach life-style.

No frills but very live-able very comfortable. Private secluded this ulorious 1, 1 acre occupies an elevated position 35 thai souks up the sun. Ideal for future redevelopment including SP0RTSHIRTS Mule GloWeM.Mtm 1 Glowr Mr Pasini in a "cage" after complaining about his treatment. "It is important to remember that the applicants have not been convicted of any offence. True they have been found by the magistrate to be eligible for rxm lor a tennis court, i-ana size: inm -om.

Come Fridav's wouldn't you rather Ix? down at the beach? INSPECT THIJRS SUN 1.00-1.30 PM AH: Lloyd Robinson 0414 441 880, Liz Jensen 0418 446 228 POLO KNITS Includes Breakaway. Value! ALLGAZMAN Polos I Twill Para AUCTION SAT 2 2ND JANUARY, 2000 AT 12 NOON FARAH TROUSERS $AQ Includes Navy Greys. Sizes AO" to 56" BRACKS GABERDINE $CQ Includes Black Navy. Were $82.50 tj9 7 BRACKS FASHIONTROUSERS 7Q Wool blend, Black Taupe. Save $20.

MARITIMA' Perfectly oositioned. Nicholas Rav denittned. new sandstone residence' close to Village and Shelley Reach. Impeccable detail IxKistino 3 double bedrooms, marble finishes, Italian limestone ITALIAN KNITS 99 floors and magnificent established gardens of 1 131 sq.m. Perfect Lightweight Superfine In Plains.v Crew neck entertaining home tor elegant soirees or casual summer aining, INSPECT WED ft SAI AHt Liz Jensen 0418 446 228, Gary Dyiwon 0418 316 158 FLAIR SPORTSCOATSMO Off AUCTION SAT 22ND JANUARY AT 11 AM Rleuu year.

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