Values and Challenges
Victorians
and visitors to Victoria clearly value the coast and the near shore environment.
This is evidenced by the number of people who choose to spend their leisure
time in coastal areas. The coast attracts 70 million visits each year
from Victorians alone, more than any other recreational area in the State.
There is also considerable evidence that the coast's abundance of food
and materials
supported indigenous Australians for thousands of years.
With the high value placed on the coast by the community comes an expectation of being able to use the coast. Infrastructure such as life saving clubs, car parking, amenity blocks and pathways are provided on the coast to both facilitate visitors' enjoyment, needs and safety and also to control access to more sensitive areas. Large numbers of people accessing the coast requires intensive management to minimise their impact on the environment and to protect those qualities which visitors expect to experience. Similarly, some recreational pursuits have the potential to damage the coast or conflict with other people's safety and enjoyment, requiring particular attention of managers.
Community education and involvement in management is one of the most effective means of ensuring the long term sustainability of the coast and its natural systems. Victorians' enthusiasm for the coast is evident in the number of people who volunteer their time and labour to directly manage or undertake practical works along the coast. Perhaps more important than the physical resource this represents is the role that this involvement has in informing and educating the community on coastal values and processes. The sense of community 'ownership' these programs encourage over local sections of the coast and the protection this custodianship affords is invaluable.
Objectives
3.1.
Improve enjoyment and safety for beach and water users
3.2.
Improve awareness and understanding
3.3.
Ensure active management of public risk
3.4.
Improve communication with Aboriginal communities in coastal areas
3.5.
Protect Aboriginal sites and places from inappropriate site
development
3.6.
Improve management and standards of accommodation on coastal
Crown land
3.7.
Improve shore based recreational fishing facilities
3.8.
Manage tourism to maximise environmental, social and economic
outcomes
Objective / Actions
3.1. Improve enjoyment and safety for beach and water users
Lead Agent: Department
of Natural Resources and Environment in partnership with Department of
State and Regional Development, Parks Victoria, Local Government, Committees
of Management.
| 3.1.1 | Opportunities will be actively sought to carry out improvement works along the coast that will provide safe, family friendly beaches (eg. access tracks, disabled access, car parks and amenities). |
| 3.1.2 | A strategic audit of water safety signage will be undertaken along the Victorian coast. A program of installation and improvements to water safety signage will be implemented based on these recommendations and be consistent with Australian standards. |
| 3.1.3 | A public information campaign to ensure an awareness and understanding of water safety signage and issues at the coast will be undertaken. |
| 3.1.4 | Beach renourishment works will be targeted using environmental, social and economic criteria including: highest use and safe beaches; protection of significant public assets; and risk management. |
| 3.1.5 | Regional water safety response plans will be established to coordinate life saving activities of search and rescue and other water safety services. |
3.2. Improve awareness and understanding
Increasing community
awareness
Lead Agent: Department of Natural Resources and Environment in partnership
with Victorian Coastal Council, Regional Coastal Boards.
| 3.2.1 | Priority will continue to be given to increasing community awareness of catchment, coastal and marine issues through groups and programs such as Coast Action / Coastcare, Land for Wildlife, Fishcare, Landcare and the Trust for Nature. |
| 3.2.2 | Opportunities to improve sharing and access to coastal information and databases for the community and between government agencies will be pursued. |
| 3.2.3 | A comprehensive education strategy will be developed for the delivery of marine and coastal education and information incorporating: formal and community education; media; and multicultural perceptions and needs. |
Increasing
opportunities for capacity building, community participation and education
Lead Agent: Department of Natural Resources and Environment in partnership
with Victorian Coastal Council.
| 3.2.4 | Training opportunities to enhance management and technical skills and promote an integrated approach to catchment, coastal and marine management will be delivered for Victorian coastal managers, planners and workers. |
| 3.2.5 | Regular forums, including a biennial conference, will be delivered to improve the planning and management of Victoria's coastal and marine environment. |
| 3.2.6 | Annual awards which recognise the community's contribution and promote professionalism and excellence in the coastal and marine environment will continue. |
| 3.2.7 | Programs to increase opportunities for community involvement and participation in coastal management will be encouraged and supported. |
| 3.2.8 | Opportunities to increase participation in current programs such as Coast Action / Coastcare and Fishcare will be actively sought. |
3.3. Ensure active management of public risk
Lead Agent: Department
of Natural Resources and Environment, in partnership with Committees of
Management, Parks Victoria.
| 3.3.1 | Opportunities
to identify and manage ongoing and emerging public risks along the
coast will be actively sought with particular emphasis on: - dangerous and unstable cliffs; - emergency situations (eg. storm events); - changed climatic conditions and enhanced erosion; - protection of critical or key public assets; - unsafe beaches; - overhanging and raised structures; and - maintenance of coastal infrastructure (eg. seawalls, breakwaters). |
| 3.3.2 | A program of vulnerability and risk assessment will be undertaken to identify coastal buffer zone widths required to maintain biological and physical processes, and to accommodate public infrastructure, use and access for a 100 year planning period. |
| 3.3.3 | Vulnerability assessments will provide the basis for determining set back lines to indicate coastal land which may be unsuitable for the location of buildings and infrastructure of varying levels of investment. |
| 3.3.4 | Revegetation of cleared land abutting very narrow coastal reserves, that are likely to be threatened by erosion, will be encouraged to establish improved natural buffers to future erosion activity. |
3.4. Improve communication with Aboriginal communities in coastal areas
Lead Agent: Department
of Natural Resources and Environment in partnership with Parks Victoria,
Committees of Management.
| 3.4.1 | Protocols for consultation with, and involvement of, Aboriginal people along the coast will be developed and implemented. |
3.5. Protect Aboriginal sites and places from inappropriate site development
Lead Agent: Department
of Natural Resources and Environment in partnership with Committees of
Management, Parks Victoria.
| 3.5.1 | Aboriginal sites and places will be protected from damage, wherever possible, in consultation with relevant Aboriginal groups. |
| 3.5.2 | Community awareness of Aboriginal heritage, including sites and places, will be encouraged and promoted, consistent with the wishes of Aboriginal communities. |
3.6. Improve management and standards of accommodation on coastal Crown land
Lead Agent: Department
of Natural Resources and Environment in partnership with Parks Victoria,
Tourism Victoria, Committees of Management.
| 3.6.1 | Managers of coastal caravan parks and camping areas on Crown land will be encouraged to undertake planning and works to improve user amenity and reduce detrimental environmental effects. |
| 3.6.2 | Best practice guidelines for the management of caravan parks and associated issues on coastal Crown land will be developed. |
| 3.6.3 | Long term exclusive occupancy for greater than 12 months on Crown land, of coastal caravan and camping sites will be discouraged to ensure sites and facilities are accessible to all prospective users. |
3.7. Improve shore based recreational fishing facilities
Lead Agent: Department
of Natural Resources and Environment in partnership with Parks Victoria,
Committees of Management.
| 3.7.1 | Recreational Fishing Licence funds will be directed to enhance recreational fishing facilities, education and rehabilitation of fish habitat. |
| 3.7.2 | Public access to existing shore-based fishing facilities such as piers, jetties and wharves will be maintained except where safety and security issues predominate. New structures will accommodate access for fishing where appropriate. |
3.8. Manage tourism to maximise environmental, social and economic outcomes
Planning and development
of tourism infrastructure
Lead Agents: Department of Natural Resources and Environment in partnership
with Tourism Victoria, Parks Victoria, Local Government.
| 3.8.1 | Planning for coastal and marine related tourism shall seek to maximise the quality of experience, encourage a diversity of experience for all market segments, encourage greater economic yield through enhanced product development and facilitate the application of best practice in all aspects of the industry. |
| 3.8.2 | Nature based tourism developments will be encouraged at suitable locations along the coast having regard to the principles for ecologically sustainable development outlined in this Strategy, and Victoria's Nature Based Tourism Directions and Opportunities for Victoria 2000. |
| 3.8.3 | Tourism ventures on coastal Crown land that facilitate an experience and understanding of the coastal environment and heritage will have priority over ventures not dependent on a coastal location. Strategic opportunities for key tourism infrastructure projects will be identified. |
| 3.8.4 | The provision of museums and visitor/tourism information and interpretation centres will be planned in a regional context and should be designed to integrate tourism efforts across local government, the public and private sectors. |
| 3.8.5 | A strategic approach to tourism and visitor signage will be encouraged to ensure effective strategic direction and minimise proliferation of unnecessary or poorly located or designed signage. |
Tourism
Marketing
Lead Agent: Tourism Victoria in partnership with Parks Victoria, Country
Victoria Tourism Council, Department of Natural Resources and Environment,
Department of Infrastructure.
| 3.8.6 | Strategic marketing and communications for tourism and recreation in coastal areas should recognise and promote ecologically sustainable development principles. |
| 3.8.7 | Coastal land managers and tourism businesses should work within broader marketing strategies and programs for the Victorian tourism industry to maximise marketing impact and efficiency. |
| 3.8.8 | Coastal land managers and tourism businesses should pursue continuous improvement in the quality of services, experiences and products offered to visitors. |
