Many of you will be aware that the Surf Coast Shire Council held a workshop on 22 January with various community and government stakeholders to discuss the issues raised and debated regarding Pt Impossible. Representatives included:

- Members of the Surf Coast Shire Council
- Surfcoast Community and Ratepayers Association
- Members of the local community
- Free Beaches Australia
- Australian Nudist Federation
- Victoria Police
- Great Ocean Road Council Committee
- Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE)
- Surf Coast Tourism

Many issues were discussed in the workshop, and a wide variety of views were presented. To summarise the findings contained at the end of the media release:

Improve Signage and Access Management
Improve Enforcement and Presence
Community Partnerships
Improve Environmental Management

Our interpretation of the findings is that there are a number of things that can be done to improve the beach itself and thereby reduce/eliminate the unwanted anti-social behaviour. But there is also a real requirement for the Victorian nudist community to contribute to the safe use of the beach, by reporting inappropriate behaviour, keeping the beaches clean, and keeping out of the dunes and fenced areas.

Please read the official media release (Click here to read)

Great work everyone, we see this is a great result and a first step on the road towards working with the council and the community in keeping our beaches safe and secure.

We urge everyone to take the time to respond to the Surf Coast Shire request for comment, and show your support for keeping the beach open. The address details are on the press release - if you are concerned about privacy, make a note on your submission that you’d like to remain anonymous (we don’t believe individual submissions will be disclosed, but you are welcome to request protection of your personal details)

There’s a poll showing currently on the front page of the online Geelong Advertiser, posing the question “Should nude beaches be banned?”. We’re going to ignore the obvious generalisation of the topic on the grounds that there must have been a limited number of words the Addy could fit in that little box!!

Please get along to the poll and show your support for keeping nude beaches open for the enjoyment of thousands of users from all over Victoria, nationally and even around the world

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/

Update: 27/1/07 1.45pm - 68 voters say no to banning CO beaches, from 76 respondents that’s 89% for keeping them open!!

Update: 28/1/07 10.00am - 187 votes are in, with 91% in favour of not banning nude beaches!!

Update: 30/1/07 11.40pm - 602 votes are in, with 92% saying nude beaches should not be banned!! Support for keeping the beaches open is clearly there

Update: 31/1/07 11.50pm - 662 votes are in, with 92% still saying nude beaches should not be banned!! After 4 days of running, it looks like slightly more than 9 in 10 people want to keep nude beaches open. That’s a very interesting result indeed!!

According to this article in the Gellong Advertiser (Click here to read), support for the poll has gone international!! Just think, lots of potential international nudist tourists now know Torquay and Pt Impossible exist!! Nudism is good for tourism, we say!!

According to an article published yesterday in the Geelong Independent (Click here to read), Minister for Planning Rob Hulls has stated that “it would be imprudent to proceed further without appropriate local consultation being undertaken”, in a letter to the Surf Coast Shire council.

It would appear the letters and emails have been working, as Minister Hulls also stated that there had been “submissions to his office from ‘a number’ of groups and individuals that opposed ‘any change to the status quo’”.

It’s good to see that emotive rhetoric doesn’t have the same effect in the higher political offices - it would be icing on the cake to see Cr Humphrey taken to task for initiating this entire mess!! His behaviour has adversely affected the other councillors, the Surf Coast Shire in general, and was contrary to the interests of the community groups (ie us) that he is supposed to be working for!! Is it possible for councillors to be removed from office prior to the end of their term?? Hmmmm….

Great work everyone - keep those letters coming, and make sure you direct them at the Surf Coast Shire and Mornington councils, so that they know clearly that we want to be involved in the process. In particular, get writing to Mornington - it looks like they were trying to ride this wave, so now we need to remind them that we are watching, and we do want answers!!

Today we received our first official communication from the State Government, in the form of a status letter from Ian Voigt, Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) Regional Director South West. Ian states that councils responsible for all 4 Victorian beaches have asked for either revocation or review, and that DSE “is currently preparing advice for the Minister for his consideration and a decision on the way forward.” You can read the full letter here (Click here to read)

It was nice to get official communication, after all these months of wondering if our cries were being heard. But it’s not nice to get confirmation that all the beaches are under attack!!

We’re surprised that councils and the State Government think revocation of clothing optional beaches is a step forward in our current society. Cape D’Agde in France brings in 300,000 visitors every year from all over the world, because they have invested in infrastructure and facilities for a booming nudist tourist industry. In Europe more beaches are clothing optional than not (and even some parks in some town centres). Nudists are willing to spend their hard earned dollars where quality facilities are located - does Surf Coast Shire want to lose those tourist dollars to people willing to travel to Sydney or Adelaide because Victoria is heading backwards towards where Queensland is currently??? Does Mornington realise that inappropriate activity in the carpark won’t go away if you ban the nudists from the beach 300 meters away!!

All it would take is the realisation that nudists on the beaches are in the best position to improve the situation. Ban the nudists, and there’ll be nothing stopping the inappropriate behaviour at poorly used beaches if there aren’t any crowds.

An article appeared in The Age (Melbourne) today, titled No nudes good news for beach towns (Click here to read). We were concerned with the title initially, and the first paragraph, since both seem to indicate that the issue is between nudists and the local communities. Obviously we are all aware that it is Australia’s nudists vs 4 local councillors, 3 of which have been very quiet on their support of their ring leader (master?) Cr Ron Humphrey since our response to his appallingly prepared and executed motion.

But credit to Rachel Kleinman (the journalist responsible), she does only dedicate half of the article to Cr Ron’s repeated ramblings (and note we’re still waiting for him to utter a verifiable fact!!), and uses the rest of the article to present some actual facts, such as:

Victoria Police’s Surf Coast Inspector Bill Mathers said there had been no sexual assaults reported at Point Impossible in recent years.

… the row over nudity was more a “social and community than a police issue”. (Inspector Bill Mathers)

“Wilful and obscene exposure occurs everywhere, it is not necessarily connected to nudist beaches,” Inspector Mathers said

“We were being informed of a really responsible and strategic process that was overturned (by Cr Humphrey’s motion),” Cr Mears said.

The decision clearly rests with the Minister - obviously the nudist community is eager to be involved in this process, being directly affected by any decisions that are made. Of concern is the comment from Minister Hulls spokeswoman Claire Miller, who stated:

“We will be considering the councils’ requests and consulting with them,” Ms Miller said.

What about consulting with the Victorian Nudist community? I hope this was an oversight of the news article, and not a stance of the Minister’s office to exclude the community from the consultation process!!

Everyone please keep writing those letters - the Addresses page has been updated with new contact details