We recently received an email from John Foss, an Independent candidate in the upcoming Surf Coast Shire elections. We won’t include the entire email just here, but it was nice to note:

… if people wish to get their gear off good luck to them (and make sure you have adequate sun protection). As long as nudists respect the environment I don’t have a problem.

Thanks for dropping us a line John – and we agree, definitely make sure you have adequate sun protection when visiting our great beaches (and don’t forget, nude is only allowed in the designated area – if you see someone behaving inappropriately, or they are up in the dunes where they shouldn’t be, let the police know!!)

Can you believe it’s been a year since the last Clean Up Australia Day? Time has certainly flown by!! This time around we’re looking for our biggest turn out yet – we know so many of you use and enjoy Pt Impossible, and we know just as many people are aware of the efforts we went to in order to save our wonderful beach from closure by the council…

Well, now it’s your turn to give something back – get yourself registered on the CUAD website and volunteer with us to clean up Posso once again!!

The details are:
Website: Click Here!
Time: 9.30am – 12.00pm
Date: 1 March 2009

You don’t have to be nude on the day if you don’t want to be, and there are locations we clean up where you aren’t allowed to be nude anyway (like in the dunes, the carpark and outside the designated clothing optional areas).

Show your support for our community and come along, every volunteer who attends is another show of support for keeping our facilities for US!!!

Thanks to Rob for his efforts every year in organising CUAD – Go Rob!!

The Southern Courier has an online poll running, asking “Should there be a 2-year nudity trial at Little Congwong beach” – clearly the answer is “YES!!!”, we’re not really sure why they even offer “no” as an option…

Click on the link below and show your support not just for our Victorian beaches, but our interstate venues as well!! The poll is near the top of the page, under the main image…

Click here to vote in the poll!!

Broken Left Leg is back posting about the Surf Coast Shire Council, and has done some number crunching on the council election preferences!! If you’ve followed our tumultuous history with the SCSC, and in particular with Cr Ron Humphrey, you’ll understand why election time is of great interest to our community!!

Take a look at the post and enjoy an entertaining read -> Preference Crunching

To quote from the article:

And finally you’ve got Ron Humphrey who has bagged a record 7 last preferences. Half the field have put Ron last.

Well, there you go…

We posted a couple of weeks ago that some new local laws were being proposed for various areas of interest along the Surf Coast across the summer (refer to this post) – it would seem that the local laws have been passed!!

According to a post by one of the members on the community forums, the new laws (including the fines for being in the dunes at Pt Impossible) were passed at the Council meeting on Tuesday 28 October.

We are supporters of these laws for the entire Surf Coast – they will help make all beaches cleaner, safer, and more tourist friendly!! We just happen to like the fact that it is good for Pt Impossible as well!!

Here are the specifics:

Smoke Free Areas:
Clause 4.12 – A Smoke Free Beaches law will ban the act of smoking on all beaches (sand areas) in the Surf Coast Shire. The inclusion of this clause is in the interests of the health of our local community and environment.
In introducing this regulation, Council and the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee (GORCC) will work
together to ensure that areas are clearly identified and appropriate infrastructure is provided, eg: ashtrays, butt bins, etc, to encourage positive compliance with the ban.
A $100 on the spot fine will be applicable with maximum penalties to be determined by court process.

Glass Free areas:
Clause 4.13 – Glass Free ban – banning of glass on all beaches (sand area) in the Surf Coast Shire.
Council’s primary objective for including this clause in the Local Law is to ensure public safety.
A $100 on the spot fine will be applicable with maximum penalties to be determined by court process.
Council currently has in place “no alcohol in public places” and the glass free ban is considered a positive extension to this requirement.

Designated Glass Free Areas:
Clause 4.13(1)(b) has been included designating three foreshore areas along the coast in Torquay,
Anglesea and Lorne that will be “glass free” for a specific period from November of each year to the end of January the following year.
Council has considered the request from Council’s Glass Free Working Group, which is a sub-group of the Community Impact Advisory Committees (CIAC) and comprises representatives of the Victoria Police, Great Ocean Road Coast Committee, businesses and Surf Coast Shire staff, seeking to include Designated Glass Free Areas in Torquay, Anglesea and Lorne during November of each year and through to the end of January in the following year.

Prohibited Areas:
Clause 4.14 – This clause will declare all sand dune areas of beaches throughout the Shire be prohibited areas. This would apply to all fenced sand dune areas and, where an area is unfenced, the entire sand dune from the toe (or bottom) of the primary sand dune, being that sand which is closest to the sea.
A $100 on the spot fine will be applied to this activity with maximum penalties to be determined by court process.

These three main inclusions to the Local Law will require an education and media campaign to highlight the changes to the wider community and relevant officers from all authorities need to discuss the implementation and enforcement of a ban on smoking and glass on beaches and designated areas within the Shire.