Beautiful Bells Beach
Surf Coast Shire has adopted a comprehensive coastal management plan that will preserve and foster the social, economic and environmental value of the Bells Beach Surfing Reserve.
The Bells Beach Coastal Management Plan and Master Plan, which have been adopted after an extensive community consultation process, includes an estimated $3.8m in upgrades to ageing infrastructure at the reserve.
This includes toilet facilities, with Council already investigating connecting current facilities to Barwon Water’s sewer network to help cope with demand. The plan also earmarks a second toilet to be built at the Winkipop Car Park, which would also be connected to the sewer network.
The Coastal Management Plan will have no impact on the beach or the surfing break, while a third car park initially proposed in draft plans to manage increasing number of tourist buses has been removed.
A licensing scheme and a quota system to control the number, timing and behaviour of commercial tour operators using the reserve will also be introduced. Fees generated from this scheme would be put back into the management of the reserve.
Other elements of the plan include:
• Employing a dedicated reserve ranger to address pests and weeds, traffic management, litter, illegal camping and other activities that cause environmental damage at the reserve
• Addressing stormwater issues through the installation of rubbish baskets in existing stormwater pits and constructing a garden near the hammerhead car park to reduce the force of stormwater flows and subsequent erosion
• Improving pedestrian access and safety throughout the site including building additional viewing areas and pathways at the Winkipop carpark
• Infrastructure to reduce set-up time for the Rip Curl Pro
Following community consultation, it has also been determined that buses over seven metres in length will be excluded from the Bells Beach recreation area.
Interpretive elements to help visitors understand the status of the reserve will be low-profile to ensure the wilderness feel of the landscape is retained. These elements will be finalised in a separate Bells Beach Interpretation Plan.
Mayor, Cr Libby Coker, said the plan had been developed over the past two years with the guidance of the Bells Beach Advisory Committee and with extensive community input.
“This is a plan for the future of one of Australia’s most important places,” Cr Coker said. “Council has recognized that the management of the reserve needs a significant boost and these plans address important infrastructure requirements that are vital to the reserve’s future. We look to our partners State and Federal Government to work with us on these vital projects.
“I’d particularly like to congratulate and thank the Bells Beach Advisory Committee for the hundreds of hours of volunteer work that has gone into the development of these plans as well and the community at large for responding to the call for input on these plans”.
“Council takes its responsibility to manage the Bells Beach Surfing Reserve very seriously; especially given the reserve’s great importance to surfing culture, its environmental importance, its significant indigenous and early settler heritage and its importance to local tourism.
“We have established great relationships with organisations like Surfers Appreciating Natural Environment (SANE), the Surfrider Foundation, Surfing Victoria, local indigenous groups, DSE and Parks Victoria and Rip Curl on the basis of our shared work at the reserve. Council, through the implementation of the plan, will continue to foster these important links.
“It’s now time to work together for the future of Bells.”
Source: Surf Coast Shire Media Release
