Policies and initiatives > Direction 5. A great place to be > Policy 5.9

Policy 5.9 – Protect coastal and foreshore environments, and improve public access and recreational facilities around Port Phillip Bay and Western Port

Residents and visitors alike enjoy the environment, the recreational opportunities and the lifestyle settings of the Victorian coastline. The bays, beaches and hinterlands are commercially important, contain a rich and diverse suite of plants and animals, and are highly sought after for residential living and for recreation. However coastal ecosystems are extremely complex and sensitive to disturbance, such as removal or loss of coastal vegetation through development. Also, recreational pressures allow invasive weeds to become established and cause erosion of dunes and cliffs.

Melbourne 2030 applies the same principles for coastal development that are set out in the Victorian Coastal Strategy 2002. This will focus development at discrete locations so that:

• the extent of settlements (activity nodes) is defined
• areas between settlements remain largely undeveloped
• the extent of recreation nodes is defined.

Directing coastal development to discrete locations is designed to:

• minimise the impact of use and development, and protect sensitive areas
• contain use and development to a limited number of locations
• define the scale of use
• establish boundaries for development areas
• manage development pressures
• provide a focus for facilities that relate to the coast.

Activity and recreation nodes are being identified in coastal action plans. This will help local councils to define the purpose and function of activity centres along the coast.

A relatively small proportion of the foreshore is privately owned. These areas should be managed consistently with the adjoining public land.

Figure 40. Indicative coastal land use - click for more detail

Melbourne’s open space strategy, Linking People and Spaces, sets out priorities for improving public access, including the trail network around Port Phillip Bay. There are opportunities to enhance Melbourne’s role as a bayside city. Parks Victoria is also developing strategic directions for Port Phillip Bay and Western Port, which will feed into a whole-of-government framework, ‘Bays for Life!’. Key recreational and tourism precincts will be improved, as will facilities for boating and cruising yachts.

In areas such as the Mornington Peninsula, there will be no expansion of existing urban areas outside the urban growth boundary. Municipal Strategic Statements will reflect the diverse characteristics of coastal urban areas, and planning scheme provisions will ensure that coastal developments are separated to maintain the character of settlements along the coast.

Our coastal areas are particularly vulnerable to the potential impacts of climate change such as rises in sea level, more intense storm activity and related storm surge events. The most vulnerable coastal areas are low-lying areas with small development setbacks. Current research on these potential impacts will pave the way for adaptive strategies.

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