More coastal closures

THE Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPA) has restricted access past Soapy Rocks in Anglesea due to an overhanging cliff at risk of collapse.

A GORCAPA spokesperson said an informal access track beneath the cliff is now unsafe and walkers from Anglesea will need to turn around at Soapy Rocks or use the Surf Coast Walk from the Surf Life Saving Club to walk to Point Roadknight.

The decision was made on March 15 by GORCAPA staff while inspecting safety controls at cliff areas along the coast and will remain in place until a geotechnical assessment on the site can be undertaken

“This is a naturally occurring event happening right along our coastline,” GORCAPA CEO Jodie Sizer said.

“Following recent cliff failures, we’re urging all coastal users to remain on designated tracks and not walk or sit underneath cliffs.”

An increasing number of sites along the coast are being made off limits due to erosion, inundation and storm damage, GORCAPA also announcing a temporary closure is in place at Rocky Point staircase in Jan Juc.

The coastal authority said the stairs will be repaired and reopened once sand returns to this section of beach.

East of Anglesea the beach beneath Demon’s Bluff was indefinitely closed at the end of 2021 prior to several mass collapses there and beach exclusion zones beneath Jarosite Cliffs near Southside remain after a man in his 20s died there on New Year’s Eve.