Beach regulation fears as study report delayed
BARWON COAST does not plan to radically change regulations around beach use as part of the Share our Shores study, according to CEO Gary McPike.
It comes as the release of results for the social research project with Federation University into the “impact of population, dogs and seasonal variants on coastal environments” has again been delayed from July until “September at the earliest”.
“We’ve got no agenda here and nothing to hide, we just (had) a substantially higher number of responses than expected,” he said. “We certainly don’t want to ban dogs or off-leash areas, in fact those areas play an important role in the land we manage.”
The Barwon Coast Committee of Management is responsible for the management of 13km of coastal reserve — from Collendina at the east of Ocean Grove to the western end of 13th Beach.
The Share the Shore study and campaign is aimed at educating beachgoers on their rights and responsibilities on the coast. The results of the community survey and focus groups will be used to “refine” policy around beach use and management.
“When we first scoped it out we thought it would be a general online survey and expected around 500-600 responses — we got 1700,” Mr McPike said.
Avid beachgoer and Ocean Grove resident Paul Malone is at the beach with his two dogs almost every morning.
Mr Malone said he had witnessed most dog walkers on his morning walks being responsible and respectable — sticking to all regulations set by Barwon Coast about responsible pet management along the coast, including on and off-leash regulations.
He fears the survey will be used as part of an agenda to rid the local area of any off-leash beaches.
“I’ve come to the view that they’ve held off on making the results public because they don’t like the results they’ve got,” he said.
Mr Malone said it was the on-leash areas that needed to be policed better.
He was part of a focus group for the study and said he was originally told the results would be out in a matter of weeks.
Mr McPike conceded that the committee had got an “indication” of the results, but they would not be released until the report was ready.
“We’ve had some indications on the survey results, but we’re not going to release it until the report is finalised as it’s important for Federation University to maintain independence,” he said.
“We need people to understand what their obligations are and that’s to have effective control of your dog. My concern is we need to change the attitude and behaviour of some owners, it’s not about banning dogs but respecting other users.”