At a recent council meeting of the SurfCoast Shire Council, motions were made for a sub-committee to apply to the appropriate minister to have the status of Pt Impossible revoked, and to increase monitoring of Southside with a view to possible application for revocation in future!

Victoria only has 4 clothing optional beaches - Pt Impossible and Southside are two of them, and Sunnyside and Campbells Cove are the others. Is it coincidental that suddenly 3 of Victorias clothing optional beaches suddenly come under attack? Hard to say… But it is outrageous that Victoria would be heading in a backwards direction while QLD (a state that has never had legal clothing optional beaches) is getting so close to joining the rest of us in the modern world!!

Come on Victorians, this is beyond a joke. If you use the beaches, then help us do something about it - contact the Free Beach Association in Melbourne (check the Contacts page), contact us here, or write to the Minister in charge using the following details:

The Honourable Rob Justin Hulls
Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for
Planning
Level 17, 8 Nicholson St, East Melbourne 3002
Tel: 9637 8855
Fax: 9637 8921
Email: rob.hulls [Email address: rob.hulls #AT# parliament.vic.gov.au - replace #AT# with @ ]

To read the actual minutes of the SurfCoast Shire meetings, click the link below

Extracts of council meeting minutes

Following is the text from the council Meeting on 18th July, at which the Council resolved to write to the Minister requesting revocation of Point Impossible’s legal status, and flagged an increased monitoring of Southside, with a view to possibly requesting revocation in the future:

SECTION B - REPORTS Page 121
MOVED Cr. Humphrey, seconded Cr. Livingstone:
That Council, pursuant to Local Law No. 22 – Section 5.4.2, move Item 5.1 forward in the agenda for consideration prior to item 4.3.
CARRIED 7:0
5. Notice of Motion
5.1 Notice of Motion 071 – Optional Dress Beaches COUNCIL RESOLUTION:
MOVED Cr. Humphrey, seconded Cr. Livingstone:
That Council:-
1. Request that Great Ocean Road Coast Committee support an application to the appropriate Minister requesting that the optional dress status of Pt. Impossible be revoked.
2. Make an application to the appropriate Minister to revoke the prescribed area at Point Impossible Beach as per section 2 of the Nudity (Prescribed Areas) Act, 1983 3. Subject to the appropriate Minister agreeing to recommendation 2 above, request the Victoria Police monitor the behaviour of members of the public in the vicinity of the Southside beach prescribed area over summer and, if an increase in anti social behaviour is identified, then Council may consider a similar request in relation to Southside beach.
CARRIED 5:2
Cr. Humphrey called for a division of Council:
Councillors voting for the motion: Humphrey, Schroeter, Livingstone, Tutt and Grossman Councillors voting against the motion: Mears and Davidson.
Background:
Currently there are four optional dress or nudist beaches in Victoria. They are Sunny Side Nth in Mt Eliza, Campbell Cove in Werribee, Point Impossible and Southside beach both being on the outskirts of Torquay in our Surf Coast. Wyndham Council has written to the Minister of Planning requesting that the strip Campbell Cove Beach of it’s optional dress status, and should this request be successful, it will mean that two thirds of nudist beaches in our State will be not only be in the Surf Coast but on the outskirts of Torquay.
A lot has changed since the early eighties when these beaches were gazetted. We now have such things as sexual harassment laws, work place reforms and not to mention the huge impact the internet has had on all our lives. For example it is not permissible to take photos of children in a playground and publish them.
These laws are put in place to protect the public and also protect the safe environment that we all enjoy.
The advent of the internet has dramatically changed the way we learn and interact, however with all good things there are usually side effects or down sides. Internet porn has become one of the many scourges affecting the social fabric of many communities globally, and Torquay in particular has not been exempt of these examples of depraved behaviour. It would be foolish to think that this is only going on within the confines of the internet and for many years there have been far too many incidents of depraved behaviour on our beaches. It’s not the aspect of nude bathing that necessitates this response; although I’m not sure how this activity fits in today’s society of political correctness particularly on public land. It’s about the “honey effect” in that it attracts others to an area for subversive reasons.
How can we as councillors guarantee the safety and wellbeing of our residents and visitors given the resources needed for constant surveillance? The Police have acknowledged that it has always been a challenge to monitor these areas going back many years, not only from a staffing perspective, but from the fact that police look like police no matter what they wear. Council certainly does not have the staff to police the area to any acceptable standard either. For us as Councillors, our decision should be a simple one, and even more so given the Wellbeing Plan that is currently being developed by our Shire. We have a duty of care that we owe to our constituents that we must respect and honour. It’s not just within the confines of these beaches where an unacceptable level of depravity is occurring, it has and continues to spill over into family beaches with depravities trawling these beaches for their pleasure.
Should Werribee be successful with the closure of Campbell’s Cove, we will if not already, be the nudist capital of Victoria, and with that will continue to attract the trawlers and even more so. Let’s not understate these offences that continue to occur. They are not just examples of sexual harassment but are in fact sexual attacks. I don’t want any more sexual attacks on my conscience. They cause trauma particularly in those most vulnerable. Our Children.
We as Councillors need to unite on this issue and send a strong message to the Minister and ask that he revoke the optional dress status of these two beaches.
Surf Coast Shire Council 18 July 2006
Minutes – Ordinary Meeting
SECTION B - REPORTS Page 122
Item removed from agenda following consideration of item 5.1.
4.3 Point Impossible Breamlea – Prescribed Area Authors Title: Director Sustainable Communities Director: Dennis Barker
Department: File Number: 07/12/007 and 37/26/186
Directorate: Sustainable Communities Folio Number:
Appendix: Nudity (Prescribed Areas Act 1983) Gazettal Purpose To review the Point Impossible prescribed area to determine if the current area is appropriate.
Summary
A number of acts of indecency have been reported to Councillors over recent months. The Chief Executive Officer wrote to the Victorian Police in May 2006 requesting additional policing. At a recent meeting of Councillors, the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee (GORCC) officers and the Torquay area Inspector of Police, the parties agreed to seek a redefinition of the boundaries of the prescribed area at Point Impossible.
Recommendation:
That Council:-
1. Request that Great Ocean Road Coast Committee support an application to the Minister to amend the prescribed area 2. Make an application through the Department of Sustainability and Environment to the Minister to amend the prescribed area at Point Impossible beach as per section 2 of the Nudity (Prescribed
Areas) Act, 1983

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 25th, 2006 at 12:08 am and is filed under Beaches, General News, Pt Impossible, Stop Press!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.