Friday, March 2, 2012
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Stop trashing our Bells, shire urged FIRST LOOK: ICON ENTRIES PAGE 3
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Shocked: Maurice Cole and Richard Bennett express dismay at controversial bus parking upgrades in Bells Beach Surfing Recreation Reserve. Picture: Tommy Ritchie 77942
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BY ERIN PEARSON ENVIRONMENTAL and surfing groups have called on Surf Coast Shire to immediately stop work on upgrading bus parking at Bells Beach. A Surf Coast Shire report said the work was in response to concerns over “public safety” but opponents said the project contradicted the shire’s master plan for Bells. Bells Beach Preservation Society’s Maurice Cole said he was devastated after the shire began digging up bitumen and vegetation to improve parking bays for six coaches. Shire staff handed out pamphlets on the works to surfers at Bells last week. Mr Cole said the preservation society and other community groups could picket the reserve if the shire refused to stop. “The shire tells us they’re taking out the works under the instruction of State Government yet State Government says they can’t approve anything until the shire provides them with changes to the master plan,” he said. “It’s a political hot potato.” Mr Cole said South Barwon MP Andrew Katos must answer “serious questions” after announcing last year he would have State Government review the plan. The coach parking upgrade removed native vegetation in contravention of the shire’s master plan, Mr Cole said. “We have so much respect for the reserve and we need to pay homage to it, not turn it into a tourist mecca that ignores the needs of local surfers.” The bus parking work began last week. The shire’s master plan for Bells has drawn criticism from surfers for proposing “statues” in the reserve’s Winki Pop car park as well as extra bus traffic. Surfers have accused the shire of trying to turn Bells into a “theme park”. Surfrider Foundation Surf Coast president Richard Bennett said tourism activities in the reserve threatened its social and cultural values. Taxpayers should not have to pay for infrastructure on public land to benefit commercial ventures, Mr Bennett said. “How do you think a cafe would fit in the corner of St Paul’s Cathedral?” he said. “Bells is being changed to suit mass commercial ventures with 20 50-seat buses a day. “What they’re doing is desecrating the church of Bells.” Mr Katos refused to comment until further talks with Surf Coast committees. Surf Coast Shire, which manages Bells Beach Surfing Recreation Reserve, refuses to answer questions from the Independent.