Community discusses many paths forward regarding proposed track

ABOUT 130 people representing a variety of views attended the Southern Bellarine Coastal Forum held in Ocean Grove last Friday.

Organisers hailed the forum a “great success”, with attendees expressing what should and should not be permitted to occur  in the rural area to the south of Shell Road between the townships of Ocean Grove and Point Lonsdale.

Noel Emselle from the Ocean Grove Community Association said 11 excellent speakers helped all the participants to better understand and appreciate the cultural, environmental, recreational and tourism opportunities and risks of the area.

Led by Ocean Grove-based professional forum facilitators Martin De Los Rios and Sofiah Mackay, using sophisticated software, participants with smart phones or other mobile devices were able to ask questions and express opinions live to the forum.

All participants then actively engaged in small group discussion sessions after each speaker to identify and document their views on the opportunities and risks.

Mr Emselle said in summary, there was generally support for some form of off-road link or links for safe walking and safe cycling, but the route must be very strongly influenced by the environment and cultural issues expertly described by the presenters and audience members.

“Now the hard work begins as we need to review all the presentations, work through the questions raised, and analyse the inputs and impressions of the participants and draft a report,” he said.

“We think this will take us at least three weeks, however we will provide regular updates on the Ocean Grove Community Association website and on our Facebook page”

Bellarine Catchment Network and Caring For Our Bays Program Manager Matt Crawley said the Ocean Grove Community Association should be congratulated on collaborating with a wide cross section of the community in an open and transparent way.

“This forum provided an opportunity for community discussion around the values of the southern Bellarine,” Mr Crawley said.

“The Bellarine Catchment Network advocated for the environmental values to be considered in all decisions around development, recreation and tourism.

“This was captured through a number of presentations.

“A balanced discussion followed and we look forward to further opportunities to engage in these discussions.”

Mr Emselle said he wanted to thank speakers, all forum partners, facilitators and all participants who collectively made this great forum possible.