TENSIONS are again running high among users of the closed Beleura cliff path at Mornington because of “spy cameras” installed by Mornington Peninsula Shire.
The CCTV cameras have been installed to catch anyone cutting or damaging the wire barricades across the path.
The path was closed on 1 September 2022 after a “minor rock fall” but Save Our Cliff Path convenor Peter Nicholson said walkers would have noticed water flows that caused a “serious landslip” one month later. The repair bill for that incident has been put at $1.5 million.
Nicholson said money spent on installing the “spy cameras” would have been better spent “fixing drainage issues” blamed for the instability of the cliff.
“The shire should build temporary detours with low cost materials round each of the two landslip areas, and reopen the path,” he said. “This would be safer, convenient, and save money. Closing the path makes it impossible to monitor drainage issues as they arise.
“The shire wants to ensure the path is closed for safety and insurance liability reasons. You can only use the path if you are given a key to the locks on the end barricades.”
Residents of the area and other “keen path users” regarded the “spy cameras” as being an infringement of personal rights and a waste of money.
First published in the Mornington News – 30 January 2024
