​Point Lonsdale's Bea Conroy has booked herself a place in the Australian Junior Surfing Titles later this year, after finishing second in the recent state series.

The 12 year old was one of five girls to go into the U/14 final showdown  at Jan Juc in April with a mathematical chance of walking away with the crown. 

Confident surfing in tough, low scoring conditions proved enough to clinch the runner's up trophy, behind Phillip Island's Sage Goldsworthy. 

"It was really close going into the final. I was confident but nervous," said Bea. "I won my first heat so made it straight through to the final.

"The waves were big and onshore and pretty bad. I caught one wave quickly and knew it was going to be enough to get second."

Bea's Point Lonsdale Boardrider's Club team mate Jay Gladman finished fourth un the boy's U/18 section of the event. 
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The Australian titles will be held at Phillip Island in December.  

A re-elected Coalition government would support a community push to have the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse reserve placed on the National Heritage List, Environment Minister Greg Hunt has announced.

During a visit to the town this morning the Minister pledged to “improve heritage values and support environmental restoration” of the reserve.

Inclusion on the Heritage List would protect the former Toc H camp from inappropriate development for the foreseeable future. Today’s commitment should also make it easier for the Borough of Queenscliffe to secure heritage funding, Mr hunt said.

“We listed Broken Hill as the first town on the National Heritage List and if you want to do the same thing here I would take that forward.

“But at the very least you can look at the Lighthouse Reserve and its linkages to Point Nepean, its status in its own right also opens up the National Heritage Funding which comes with National Heritage Listing, so there are two big decisions for you.

“We will work with the Borough of Queenscliffe, local residents and community groups in the design of the project,” Minister Hunt said.

A Borough of Queenscliffe spokesperson said heritage listing was not on the current Council Plan, but was not out of the question. 
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"Any consideration of heritage listing or nomination of sites would be subject to consideration as per any other item that would come before the community or council," she said.  

The commitment forms part of two Green Army election promises for both Point Lonsdale and Queenscliff.

The Point Lonsdale Green Army project will

• Rejuvenate the Swan Bay Ramsar area, remove invasive species and rehabilitate coastal wetlands
• Help protect threatened species habitat including the Hooded Plover and Orange Bellied Parrot
• Improve heritage values and support environmental restoration of the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse Reserve

The Queenscliff Front Beach foreshore project will:

• Rejuvenate the Swan Bay Ramsar area, remove invasive species and rehabilitate coastal wetlands
• Protect threatened species habitat including the Hooded Plover and Orange Bellied Parrot
• Restore the Queenscliff foreshore area through removal of environmental weeds and invasive species, and replacing with native species

“These projects will help to ensure local wetlands and coastal areas are protected and threatened species’ habitats are strengthened,” said Corangamite MP Sarah Henderson.

“Green Army teams will work in partnership with the Borough of Queenscliffe to deliver the projects.”
The funding announcement can be viewed at: https://vimeo.com/165977654

Households will continue paying potentially hundreds of dollars more than their neighbours for their kerbside waste collection for at least another year, after the Queenscliffe Council determined it was too hard to change the rating strategy ahead of the upcoming budget. 

At a special budget meeting last month councillors were split two votes a piece on the controversial matter. The decision to maintain the differential payment plan was only passed with the casting vote of Mayor Helene Cameron. 

Councillor Bob Merriman was not present for the vote. 

“This has been a most difficult matter, particularly given the high level of community interest,” said Cr Susan Salter, who opposed an immediate shift to a flat garbage charge for all households. 

“The biggest challenge is the impost on the ratepayers who own the quarter of properties in the Borough with the least value. These ratepayers, approximately 600, would see a substantial increase in their kerbside waste management charges were Council to move to a fixed charge model in one step,” she said. 

Councillors Peter Russell and Sue Wasterval argued the scheme, which results in higher rated properties paying upwards of $700 more than lesser-valued homes, should be scrapped immediately. 

“I do not believe the owners of higher valued properties are necessarily richer than those with lower valued properties as there are far too many variables within this that would have to be taken into account,” Cr Wasterval said. 

“If everyone is charged the same amount for the same service it is very clear to all, everybody, what the service really costs. Consequently I believe that there should be equal pay for equal service.”

The Borough has used the differential approach to garbage collection for some 20 years. The community only became aware of the strategy after the state government’s 2.5 percent rate cap forced it to isolate the charge from the general municipal rate. 
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The Council will conduct a review of its overall rating strategy before revisiting the issue. 

A leading marine scientist has thrown a wirldcard into Queenscliff's stingray feeding debate by offering up an alternative  plan for an underwater  showcase of Port Phillip's sea life.

Dr John Ford, the expert employed to add weight to Queenscliff Harbour’s proposed stingray feeding attraction, has floated an ambitious compromise tourism concept featuring a man made rocky reef and possible underwater glass walkway. 

A report prepared by the marine and fisheries ecologist acknowledges a stingray viewing area at Fisherman’s Flat had potential for “long-term value as a research facility.” However it also casts doubt over the economic and environmental viability of Queenscliff Harbour Ptyd Ltd’s (QHPL) existing planning application and highlights potential negative impacts on both the animals and wider eco-system from stingray feeding.

Dr Ford says his altrnative proposal would have the twin benefits of still showcasing our resident giant smooth rays but also highlighting Port Phillip’s unique underwater eco-system. 

“Queenscliffe has diverse, unique and beautiful local marine life... Nearby rocky reefs and even the rocky edges of the Queenscliff channel support ecosystems that could be attractions in their own right,” The Melbourne University Research Fellow and Mezo Research Pty Ltd consultant said. 

“Kelp, brightly coloured sponges and ascidians, crabs and nudibranchs are only a handful of the many intriguing species on show.”

Dr Ford’s report was made available to the public at the first two Open House sessions (in April), convened by QHPL as part of the mandatory community consultation phase of its Fisherman’s Wharf Revitalisation planning application.

He suggests the footprint of the current attraction be extended beyond the Cayzer slipway and a rocky reef installed to support sponge and kelp ecosystems and attract “high profile animals” such as rock lobster and abalone.

A “unique viewing system” would be needed to connect the public with the attraction, the report adds. 
“Ideas include an underwater walkway through the slipway area, viewing a rocky reef system on one side and a seagrass system on the other. Also possible is a cut-away glass window side of the slipway to provide a submerged viewing area, or a walkover with a transparent base that allows people to look below their feet into the marine world.

“Such underwater viewing would provide a unique immersive experience for patrons to connect with the local natural marine environment of Victoria and could tie into the projects and objectives of the local Marine and Freshwater Discovery Centre, Parks Victoria and Fisheries Victoria.”

The experience could also incorporate the harbour’s fishing and boat building heritage, Dr Ford says.  “Hence the experience is not only reliant on stingray feeding, but provides a complete picture of the marine world and we interact with it.”

a complete picture of the marine world and we interact with it.” 

Upwards of 50 people who attended the sessions were informed a tourist attraction on the site was a “non-negotiable.” However it appears increasingly likely a compromise proposal will be reached. 

“Yes, QHPL is open to the alterations to the proposal, and to consider other proposals, as long as the proposal is strongly linked to Tourism, not just a nod in tourism’s direction,” said Harbour manager Sean Blackwood.

“It needs to be remembered that QHPL is providing a significant amount of funding to this project and that once the wharf is completed the liability of up-keep will also be the responsibility of the Harbour, so an income stream that supports the up-keep of the infrastructure is a required outcome.”

The Harbour’s current application includes construction of a 120 seat amphitheatre, outdoor cimena, two stingray feeding shows per day over summer and a single daily show during the rest of the year. Performances would include feeding stingrays and acrobatic displays.

However, far from endorsing the existing vision, Dr Ford’s report appears to undermine QHPL’s business plan by recommending the number of shows currently proposed be reduced by more than half. 

Feeding should occur just once a day during peak tourism periods, instead of the two shows currently proposed, and there should be breaks in feeding of up to four days during breeding season, it suggests.

The study also raises concerns about the potential for over-feeding, increased aggression amongst animals and possible impacts on the surrounding environment. 

“If levels and frequency of feeding are high enough this can lead to food dependency and possible food-demanding behaviours,” it states. “Dense aggregations of rays can increase aggression and injury to the rays, promote parasite levels, and potentially attract larger predators.”

“However all these effects are highly species and location specific and dependent on the level and frequency of feeding.” 

Mr Blackwood denied Dr Ford’s assessment was detrimental to QHPL’s business case.  

“John’s considered approach is two-fold in my view. It takes into account that human interaction and localised feeding of Smooth rays has a long history but at the same time recognises that very little is known about the rays. So by limiting feedings, introducing time changes and placing breaks in feeding cycles the impacts can minimise impact,” he said. 

“Reduction in feeding could of course impact our business model, however the inclusion of a wider scope of activities may act as a leveller in the equation.”

Fisherman’s Flat resident Carmen Bell said it was now apparent from the report and the Open House sessions that the current proposal was unviable and unworkable. 

“I think we can be fairly certain that the movie screen has fallen off the pontoon and the agenda,” she said.
“The one point of general agreement was that the wharf needs to be fixed. It really should have been repaired years ago by Parks Victoria, prior to the private consortium taking over, and of course then the cost and method of repair would have been less and simpler.

“The community needs to come up with suggestions on how the stingray facility can be morphed into a low-key and viable tourist attraction that provides spin-offs for the township without destroying its heritage image,” Mrs Bell said. 

Two further Open House sessions will be held on Wednesday May 18 and Saturday May 21. Details can be found on the Queenscliff Harbour website.

Key stakeholders have held talks on site to discuss the possibility of a lagoon being created on Queenscliff’s front beach, to draw the ocean back to the seawall and tourists back to the once popular stretch of coastline. 

The Rip Chamber of Commerce has put forward the idea as part of its push to clean up the beach and protect the town’s heritage pier from being reclaimed by sand. 
The ambitious plan would also include installation of demountable bathing boxes for visitor  accommodation. 

Chamber president Tony Francis met with officers from the Borough of Queenscliffe, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and Parks Victoria at the beach recently to explain the vision.

“I think the community is just fed up with the lack of action on that beach and they want to see something done and this was a way of starting a conversation if you like, we just want to get things moving,” Mr Francis said.

“We need to find a solution to our sand management.  We’re losing sand at places like Dog Beach and Point Lonsdale but it’s building at this beach and if we don’t do something soon our pier will be out of water in about 20 years. The sand is also filling up the reefs at the front of the beach.

“This was about getting stakeholders together  to talk about how we can proactively manage the problem, as well as obviously restoring the beach to one people want to come to,” he said. 

The proposal would include removing a large area of sand to allow water to flow further up onto the beach, creating a lagoon. A rough mock-up image distributed by the Chamber suggests it would fill in most of the mid-section of the beach.

Removable bathing boxes, providing peak season accommodation for tourists, would be installed around its shoreline. 

“They [the officers] loved the beach box concept and thought it was a great idea. From DELWP and Parks’ perspective,  they had no problem with it and the Council [officers] also liked it,” said Mr Francis.

“They also liked the lagoon idea but obviously there is a lot to work through regarding that proposal. They all know that there’s a build up of sand here and it’s a problem. 

“It’s growing I estimate at about one to two metres a year and you can already see a new sand dune forming and there are impacts for the pier and for the environment,” he said.  

A Borough of Queenscliffe spokesperson said it was too early for Council to comment on the ideas. 
“A meeting held at the Queenscliff front beach explored a number of topics. Discussions were very preliminary in nature and no decisions were reached,” she said.

“Councillors did not participate in these informal discussions. Should any proposal discussed be feasible, Council will of course be briefed at the appropriate time when more information is available.”

The front beach clean up has been identified as the second of six priority projects identified by the borough’s Tourism and Economic Development Advisory Committee (TDAC). 
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Council is resourcing a landscape architect to consider possibilities and the Queenscliffe Historical Museum has been engaged to compile a background on the beach’s original sea baths, minutes from the group’s recent meeting show.