NEWS DESK
Call to halt Portsea beach wall Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire had called on the state government to stop a $3 million rock wall being built at the Portsea front beach until a solution can be found to protect and restore the beach. The shire says the government’s rock revetment “by itself will achieve erosion protection but will not guarantee the return of this iconic beach”. The rock revetment treatment was chosen by Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) after commissioning a study in 2016 by consultants Advisian. The study produced seven options for the 600 metres of beach and foreshore which has receded by 25-30 metres. However, the shire’s “strategy team” was dissatisfied with the study’s results, believing the rock revetment would “ameliorate erosion” but not restore the beach. On the team’s recommendation, the shire hired its own consultants, Water Technology (WaterTech) to see if Advisian’s findings were “based on reasonably satisfactory investigations and information” and “determine whether the report methodology, information on which it was based, and assumptions made, provides reasonable certainty in achieving the objectives of ameliorating the erosion and remediating the Portsea front beach”. Russell Smith, who heads the shire’s coastal, urban and heritage strategy team, said WaterTech criticised Advisian’s options paper for such things as failing to consider severe erosion
GEOTEXTILE bags filled with sand have become a permanent fixture on the renowned Portsea front beach, left. Above, earthmoving equipment is used to move sand and rocks and position the bags.
of sand at Nepean Bay, Point Nepean and the build-up of sand at Shelley and Point King beaches. WaterTech also claimed there had been a failure “to investigate possible causes of erosion such as [the Port Phillip] channel deepening” undertaken in the months before “the maximum shoreline change and in a period which was not a particularly stormy period”. Other alleged shortcomings included the use of low resolution imagery and waterline estimates not taking account of variations in tide and “inter-seasonal effects”.
WaterTech said there “is insufficient information to allow for the selection of a preferred option for detailed design purposes” and that “further detailed analysis is required to assess any preferred options to minimise the risk they may have (and unintended consequences)”. On Friday the shire issued a news release calling on the state government to: n Commit to erosion control and beach remediation. n Undertake protective works to the existing geotextile wall to enable further investigations on the coastal processes.
n Undertake further investigations that enable an informed assessment on options that will achieve erosion amelioration and beach remediation. n Undertake community consultation on design options for Portsea Beach infrastructure. The mayor Cr Bryan Payne said Portsea front beach, which is within his Nepean Ward, “is one of the state’s most iconic beaches” and “contributes significantly to the cultural heritage” of the peninsula and Victoria. “Council looks forward to speaking with the state government to ensure
Shire planners kept busy at their job MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire’s Planning Services department is patting itself on the back about being the busiest in the state. Data released by the shire shows the department processes about 2100 planning applications and receives more than 37,000 phone calls a year. Last financial year the department completed 77 per cent of the 2187 planning decisions within the statutory time frame. On top of this, the unit determined a total of 581 amendments to planning permits, 536 secondary consents and 408 extensions-of-time requests. “This is a total of 3712 statutory decisions made for a wide range of planning permit matters,” planning services executive manager David Bergin said. “Also, the team maintained a strong record at VCAT with more than 64 per cent of cases being decided in favour of the council.”
Mr Bergin said figures for the latest quarter showed strategic projects and Peninsula Wide teams “delivered a significant number of critical projects to ensure the shire is preparing for the long-term future land use planning pressures facing the peninsula”. Over the financial year, he said, the team completed several major strategic projects later adopted by council, including the Housing and Settlement Strategy, Activity Centres Strategy Review, Tootgarook Wetland Management Plan and Industrial Areas Strategy. Also, an extra 14 major planning scheme amendments were prepared and progressed to varying stages. These included the adoption of the Cresswell Street rezoning (Amendment C210), exhibition of the Mornington Peninsula Stage 2 Heritage Overlay (Amendment C214) and Western Port Land Subject to Inundation (Amendment C216).
“This equates to an enormous amount of work prepared by the team for the council’s consideration,” Mr Bergin said. The planning compliance team has also been “very busy” this past financial year taking on a record 1508 investigations and completing 1194. The team issued 58 infringement notices, and was involved in 19 VCAT proceedings and nine magistrates’ courts proceedings. The mayor Cr Bryan Payne said the “entire team does an outstanding amount of work that is reflected in the statistics across all of the planning services unit”. “This demonstrates how busy the team is working to ensure we protect and enhance the unique characteristics of the Mornington Peninsula,” he said. The shire has an area of 723 square kilometres and a population as recorded in the 2016 census of about 155,000. Stephen Taylor
this beach is reinstated and the foreshore protected from further erosion,” Cr Payne said. Cr Hugh Fraser, also of Nepean Ward, said the government “must commit to our community that the government will undertake all the necessary steps to ensure a solution is found to both the coastal erosion at Portsea and Point Nepean National Park and Portsea beach remediation – otherwise Victoria will lose our iconic beach forever”. DELWP is about to build a rock wall to prevent further erosion of a cliff at Mt Martha Beach North.
Win a telescope THE Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society (MPAS) invites submissions from primary school pupils and secondary school students to enter an astronomy-themed photo competition as part of its National Science Week program. First prize is a $350 90mm refracting telescope plus a one year family membership to MPAS. Second prize are 15x70 binoculars valued at $170 and third prize is one entry to the annual MPAS Astrophotography Workshop to be held on 8 September. Photos can be of anything (day or night) provided they have a reference to the subject of space or the night sky. Entries, which will be judged on content, composition and creativity, close at midnight 12 August. Winners will be notified in advance and announced at MPAS’s National Science Week event on 17 August at the Briars Astronomy Centre, Mt Martha. Email entries with a description, personal details and age to photocomp@mpas.asn.au Terms and conditions at www.mpas.asn.au/ events.html
Southern Peninsula News
31 July 2018
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