NEWS DESK
Call to keep up pressure to fix cliff path Liz Bell liz@mpnews.com.au MORNINGTON residents who fear the popular Beleura cliff path may never open gain are urging the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council to intensify its pressure on the state government for money to repair the path. Friends of Beleura Cliff Path spokesperson Peter Nicholson said the $1.5 million needed to restore the cliff path after landslips means there was a “50/50” chance it will never be done without government help. “The shire needs to do a lot more than it is doing now if the path is to be re-opened. And to strengthen their backbone, we need to lobby them strongly, efficiently and constructively,” he said. “A year has passed, and the shire has done little to sort out and tackle the causes of the slips, which is all to do with drainage. “Instead, the shire has commissioned a geo-tech report to study the geo-tech condition of the cliff, not the drainage, legal or management issues.” That report is expected to be released around 30 November. The mayor Cr Steve Holland said landslips had badly damaged large sections of the path, and it was not safe to use in its current state. He said the state government had not indicated if it intended to repair the path, which sits on a mix of private property and Crown land belonging to the state. The council had commissioned a
Track work: Members of the Friends of Beleura Cliff Path group, Ross Killborn, Mike Dore, Catherine Waters and Peter Nicholson commemorate the 101st birthday of the building of the path built with picks and shovels in 1922. Picture: Gary Sissons
Picks, shovels mark path’s 101 years
risk assessment to explore options the state government could consider to safely reopen the path. Any works would depend on state finance. “We are not able to disclose conversations or actions taken with private property owners regarding drainage,” Holland said. Nicholson said the friends group
Southern Peninsula
wanted the council to understand the depth of feeling in the community towards the path and would keep pressuring the council to repair it. “This is the community’s path, it is an important community asset that has a 100-plus year history,” he said. “We think it’s necessary to impress on the shire how much the people of
the peninsula value the path.” Part of the cliff path was closed since late last year after safety concerns were raised by shire engineers. Subsequent landslips have since caused it to be closed. To learn more about the Beleura Cliff path go to facebook.com/groups/ beleuracliffpath
THE path cost 80 pounds to build, which was paid by locals and the foreshore committee. The path was built for public use, although it weaves in and out of private land. It was supported by the land owners. Nicholson says that if the path was built today it would cost $30million, with the land alone worth $15m. “It was at first a dirt track, often called the Goat Track. Local teenagers rode their ponies down it,” Nicholson said. “In the 1950s it was bitumenised. One hundred and one years is a long time, and the path has proved itself to be sound. “It has heritage value as well being something of practical use to thousands of people. “The path is still basically sound, and most of it is safer now than it was 10 years ago, with some new handrails and thick plantings of deeprooted cliff plants along the shoulders done by the friends group. “The damage [which led to its closure] was done by landslips in two places, caused by drainage and irrigation issues that could be fixed.”
Don’t let the Southern Peninsula become a “News Desert”!
A MESSAGE FROM OUR PUBLISHER Dear Reader, When Covid hit in 2020, community newspapers across the country faced an existential threat. Businesses were curtailed or forced to close due to lockdowns, advertising revenue dried up and hundreds of community newspapers across the country closed. Many forever. At the beginning of the pandemic, I made a promise to our readers. We would keep publishing. No matter what. And that is what we did. We kept our promise and saw the pandemic through, never missing a single weekly edition. About 12 months ago, a new, even greater threat emerged. Newsprint, the paper we print on, began to quickly rise in price. It has now risen to be 80% higher than it was before and during Covid. Community newspapers across the country are again in crisis and papers are again closing on a weekly basis. My team and I are dedicated to providing the best local news we can to the Southern Peninsula. But it is time to ask for your help. PAGE 8
Southern Peninsula News
1 November 2023
Readers! We need you to do one thing for us. We
need you to support those businesses that support us. Those businesses support local news in your community!
Businesses! We need you to do one thing for us.
Support Southern Peninsula News with your advertising. It is a great way to support your local community, and build your business while doing it. Call our sales representative, Ricky Thompson, on 0425 867 578 or email ricky@mpnews. com.au Without a local newspaper, there is no efficient means to check the decisions of the powerful and create accountability. Without a local newspaper, the fabric that holds a community together suffers. Without a local newspaper, the individual identity of the area is diminished. The Southern Peninsula News needs your support to thrive and grow through unprecedented challenges. Let’s work together and make it happen! Thank you for your support, Cameron McCullough - Publisher
