Save Pt Lonsdale Front Beach

19/09/2025

🚫 Coles wants to build a supermarket on the very edge of Point Lonsdale.
This land was wrongly zoned years ago — even Councils admit it’s an error. A big-box supermarket here would breach the Protected Settlement Boundary, threaten Ramsar wetlands, and fail the legal community need test.
👉 Sign the petition to stop Coles and fix the zoning for good

🚫 Coles wants to build a supermarket on the very edge of Point Lonsdale. This land was wrongly zoned years ago — even Councils admit it’s an error. A big-box supermarket here would breach the Protected Settlement Boundary, threaten Ramsar wetlands, and fail the legal community need test. 👉...

29/09/2022

It has been a while between updates as we have tried to digest the madness that has transpired. So Parks Victoria/DEWLP have banned any new groynes from the front beach. This is the complete opposite of what the community wanted, who voted for the Community Design Option (see attached), of 6 groynes that would directly benefit beach walkers, swimmers, surfers, day trippers and campers. We want to know what the communities view currently is, so please complete this online vote. Sladey will also be collecting votes at the front beach in coming weeks -

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

30/06/2022

Vote to Save the Dog Beach!

DELWP have put another process together as a result of us (read Graham Slade) putting together a proposal to construct groynes to save the dog beach from further erosion.

The link below allows you to vote.

Naturally we prefer the Groyne Option.

If you want to support this option - here is some template text to paste into the 3 boxes for it:

1) ADVANTAGES: I prefer this option as it will allow the beach to be protected, the sand dune to be replanted and regenerated with natural vegetation, and the beach access and use to be retained with easy to use ramps over the groynes. We have also been advised by a coastal engineer that it will not cause any additional scouring downstream of the last groyne as your model incorrectly depicts. The only scouring will be 15-20m out from the sand dune.

2) DISADVANTAGES: There are no significant disadvantages although the visual amenity will be impacted. It will cost more than doing nothing, however as the 8th highest rate payers in the country it is not such a significant expense for example when compared to the costs associated with this process and the front beach groyne process. We would like to see some action result from these 2 important community initiated projects.

11/05/2022

And the beaches smashed by dredging unite.... unfortunately we couldnt make the meeting last friday due to prior committments, however looks like a great group with immediate results in Parliament today.

Meeting tonight in Rosebud with representatives of various Port Phillip beach groups from Shire Hall Beach, Mornington, down to Portsea, about the impacts of erosion of their beaches, and the wider impact that is causing.

Zoe McKenzie, Sam Groth and I - as the Federal and State Liberal Candidates for these beaches - are determined to not just discuss the problems facing these beaches, but to work together with advocates and the community to bring about solutions for each beach, and Port Phillip as a whole, including other impacted locations like Point Lonsdale Beach.

Save Mount Martha North Beach Nepean Ratepayers Mt Martha North Beach Group Mornington Peninsula Beach Box Association Inc. Shire Hall Beach Mornington

18/03/2022

Go Mt Martha! Great to see the liberals taking this seriously.. Thanks very much Chris Crewther - Liberal for Mornington for your support!

Great to have a brief chance to speak during Victorian Liberal Leader – Matthew Guy’s Mornington electorate visit with Lisa and Trevor, locals advocating for action to stop the erosion of Mt Martha North beach and other Peninsula beaches - from Portsea to Mount Eliza - as a result of the 2008 dredging of the heads and other man-made constructions/consequences.

We had a chance to talk about the need for the State Labor Government to publicly release CSIRO and other reports on the dredging’s consequences, PLUS the need to fund a major independent oceanic engineering study to develop potential designs and fixes for multiple Peninsula beaches, Point Lonsdale and Port Phillip as a whole, to mitigate changed water/sand movements, prevent further erosion, protect the Esplanade, and restore our beaches.

See some info on these various issues here:
- Dredging consequences: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/beach-loss-linked-to-dredging-20130706-2pj8b.html

- Mt Martha North Beach: https://www.facebook.com/100068679183649/posts/218098087156163/?d=n

https://amp.theage.com.au/national/victoria/mount-martha-beach-thrown-lifeline-to-save-it-from-erosion-20191104-p537am.html

- Shire Hall Beach: https://www.facebook.com/100068679183649/posts/243926204573351/?d=n

- Portsea: https://www.mpnews.com.au/2017/07/10/push-for-dredging-not-seawall-at-portsea/

Everything Mornington Peninsula Mt Martha North Beach Group Shire Hall Beach Mornington Nepean Ratepayers Sam Groth Zoe McKenzie Sharn Coombes Save Mount Martha North Beach Greg Hunt MP

14/01/2022

A great article from The Guardian/Royce Kurmelovs on our battle to Save the Front Beach - it has really heated up with DELWP completely changing their tune and saying after 6 years of working with us, they can no longer help due to a change in policy which means they can no longer interfere with the natural coastal environment - the only issue is it is historical interference that has caused the issue in the first place!! Channel Deepening/Seawall... time to get Sladey on Channel 7 to push it even harder!

‘Snaking conveyer belts of sand’ are easily disrupted by human activities. Fixing them is no easy task

18/10/2021

Sights of Summer! Unfortuantely without reinstating the groynes that used to save the front beach sand & sea wall, urgent maintenance works will only increase in frequency and cost over time. It is hard to understand spending approx $500k a year on maintenance costs when a groyne will cost about the same, and last for decades - and indeed bring back the sand and save the sea well - both important community assets.

07/10/2021

Without more groynes, the Pt Lonsdale Promenade will eventually fail and we will lose this incredible community asset - it seems we may be losing access to part of it over summer given the urgent repairs needed AGAIN over 80m of it - hopefully DELWP will start seeing sense over dollars - and stop spending incredible amounts of money every year on urgent maintenance works, and instead put more groynes in to save the promenade and the front beach.

Urgent repairs will be undertaken along an 80m section of the Point Lonsdale sea wall, following reagent sea surges. The BoQ says damage was identified during recent routine inspections. Repairs will be undertaken in small sections and may cause some disruption over several months.

25/08/2021

HOT OFF THE PRESS: DELWP have issued their Feasibility Report on the Front Beach Groynes, and unfortunately they have overlooked the wishes of the community and expert groyne consultants, and concluded that the Community Design Option would not withstand the force of the swells, and that instead massive breakwater structures are required to save the front beach. We have rejected their proposed breakwaters that would destroy the amenity of the beach, and are back at square 1 unfortunately. We will seek an acceptable outcome and will keep you all updated. Thanks for the support to date, lets hope we can now get DELWP on the same page.

24/08/2021

And the Global Warming Groynes! Our Groyne Designer Extraordinare, Sladey, has come up with the GWGs for the Dog Beach - have a look at the attached for further details..

07/05/2021

It has been a while between updates! Unfortunately, things have slowed down in recent times – the engineers engaged by council to implement our design concluded there was too much wave energy for our design to work with 1-3 tonne rocks for the groyne at the Point, and believed that 3-6 tonne rocks would be required, which would result in a structure with a huge footprint and destroy the rugged beauty of the front beach. Hence the designs are being reviewed again and we expect an outcome later in the year. Sladey has been working hard in the background on this, and has been working closely with Lisa Neville MP who has been incredible helping us on this, and indeed helping the community on other issues. Sladeys latest correspondance and update is here https://www.dropbox.com/s/sopscz9tcx597ve/DOC030521.pdf?dl=0. So thank you Sladey & Lisa, and looking forward to the right decision being made soon!
https://engage.vic.gov.au/lonsdale-bight

Contribute to the planning of the Lonsdale Bight coastal zone and read about the independent coastal processes review.