UNAUTHORISED watercraft and boating equipment littering the coastal dunes of the Mornington Peninsula will be removed from Crown land foreshore reserves from next month.
Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Steve Holland said foreshores were public spaces and removing unauthorised watercraft would enable “healthy foreshore environments and ensure everyone can continue to enjoy public spaces into the future”.
Watercraft owners are being asked to remove their unauthorised vessels by 1 March, after which the shire and Whitecliffs-Cameron’s Bight management will begin impounding them.
Holland said that while everyone knows dumping a personal watercraft, like a kayak, dinghy or yacht, at a nearby foreshore is not the right thing to do, it was happening too often.
“Due to this, we now have a large number of unauthorised watercraft along the length of the foreshore throughout Sorrento and Blairgowrie,” he said.
Some of the watercraft are believed to have been stored there for many years, resulting in trampled dune systems, as well as littered, buried and abandoned boats and equipment.
In conjunction with Whitecliffs-Camerons Bight management committee, the coastal planning and community safety teams at the shire developed the watercraft removal program to enforce removal of the watercraft over the 2022-23 peak season.
The program will initially focus on the Sorrento, Blairgowrie and western Rye foreshores but is likely to be extended across the peninsula.
Unauthorised watercraft are any watercraft (such as a dinghy, kayak, windsurfer, stand up paddleboard, yacht or catamaran) that have been left on the foreshore without approval from the relevant management committee.
Watercraft that are registered and stored in a leased or licensed area with approval from a licensee are not considered unauthorised.
The removal of watercraft must not damage the surrounding environment and must be safely removed from the foreshore by hand and no machinery or digging implements.
Anyone with a registered Parks Victoria mooring who stores a watercraft on the foreshore to access a mooring should contact the relevant management committee.
Mooring holders are permitted to keep their dinghy on the beach until a long-term management solution is finalised.
Details: mornpen.vic.gov.au/watercraftremoval
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 21 February 2023
