History
Above: Near the Baths in Mornington, 1912
Back To The Era Of The Sea Baths By Val Wilson (Mornington District Historical Society) and Peter McCullough
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n June it was reported that Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor Susan Bissinger had floated the idea of sea baths as being the ideal solution to restore the eroded Portsea front beach (Mornington News. 15 June, 2021).The 2009 bay dredging has seen the once-fabled beach replaced by unsightly sandbags; a stop-gap measure to limit cliff erosion without any prospect of restoring the sand. It has proved to be an expensive eyesore as at least $8 million has been spent on the problem, including $2.5 million to replace the sandbag wall in 2019/2020.
The councillor’s proposal has not received unanimous support: “A sea bath/rock pool will not restore a sandy beach to Portsea, which is the outcome the community demands.” wrote Stuart Allen of Dromana in a letter to the editor (Mornington News. 22 June, 2021). While Councillor Bissinger’s suggestion will no doubt play out in the coming months (perhaps years?), this would seem to be an opportune time to recall an era when sea baths were fashionable in Victoria, with particular reference to the Mornington Peninsula and Irvine’s Royal Baths in Mornington. continued next page...
January 2022
E ssence | 75
PENINSULA