A Walk for All of Anglesea By Dot Hutton
The Anglesea Perimeter Walk was established in recognition of the unusually high quality of natural heathland and woodlands surrounding Anglesea. Much of this is now included in the Great Otway National Park. Don Hutton, a well-known environmentalist and bushwalker, saw the value in having car-free access to a continuous walking track that showcased some of the biodiversity and beauty so close to Anglesea. After Don’s death in 2007, Waverley Bushwalking Club members, ANGAIR members, university colleagues and friends contributed funds to enable the establishment of this route as a walk. Don had identified possible ways in which existing tracks could be linked to make a circuit around Anglesea township. In 2008, a team of ANGAIR members continued the track-finding work. They decided not to pass through some of the more sensitive areas, such as the large stands of grass tree, fearing the introduction of Phytophthora cinnamomi (Cinnamon fungus), an exotic fungal organism that the attacks the roots, thereby dehydrating the plants. This organism can become as rampant as COVID.
Seats at Demon Bluff Lookout on the Anglesea Perimeter Walk.
Once a feasible map was drawn up, negotiations began with Surf Coast Shire Council (SCS), the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee (GORCC), Parks Victoria, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and Alcoa. This was no small undertaking. The global financial crisis was already beginning to bite. Government organisations were experiencing staff cut backs and many organisational restructuring changes were underway. The person we spoke to one week could be replaced by someone struggling to come up to speed with their new job, and without access to the history of negotiations. Progress was slow.
Don Hutton, a well-known environmentalist and bushwalker, had the vision for a continuous walking track that showcased some of the biodiversity and beauty so close to Anglesea. 10
At the time, Parks Victoria was underresourced to cope with the task of managing the recently declared (2004) Great Otway National Park (GONP) that now stretched from near Bells Beach to Cape Otway. They were not at all ready to see the development of new tracks, especially one that was not already drawn on the official maps. While it is possible to be very sympathetic with this position, it was
extremely frustrating at the time. After many months, the final negotiation with Parks Victoria meant that the Anglesea Perimeter Walk followed more closed 4WD tracks than was originally proposed. However, this concession did mean that a continuous walk became possible. Since the establishment of the walk, Parks Victoria has promptly replaced damaged signs in the national park. They gave permission for two seats to be placed on Demon’s Lookout, above Demon’s Bluff, a point shown on old maps under the Eumerella Scout Camp. These seats were made at the Anglesea Men’s Shed and installed by Parks Victoria. A strange situation arose in the discussion with DELWP, Alcoa and the Surf Coast Shire Council. At the time, it was not at all certain who had responsibility for particular areas of land bordering the Alcoa Leasehold and that section of the leasehold called the Anglesea Heath. Once it was established that DELWP cared for the riparian forest between the Anglesea River and Coalmine Road, permission was refused for the walk to
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