PHILLIP Island’s fairy penguin colony will be protected forever, with the completion of a controversial compulsory home acquisition program in a precinct on the south-west corner of the island known as Summerland.

All up, 774 privately owned properties across 85 hectares were compulsorily acquired by the state government since 1985.

The program was initially costed at $10.5 million, and expected to take 15 years, but blew out after a real estate property boom on the island stretched the government’s budget.

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