Captured Coasts: Conference Field Trip

The recent Coast to Coast conference held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from 29 August to 1 September included a field trip to the Bellarine Peninsula that was sponsored by Bellarine Bayside. This field trip was guided by geomorphologist Neville Rosengren and geotechnical engineer Tony Miner together with local land managers. The excursion sites visited display a range of landforms on the bayside and Bass Strait coasts of the Bellarine Peninsula near the entrance to Port Phillip. These include the steep, active coastal slopes in sediments and weathered volcanics at Clifton Springs, lowland sandy terrain susceptible to inundation at Portarlington (Point Richards) and St Leonards, and a remarkable example of a prograding coast (advancement towards the sea as a result of the accumulation of waterborne sediment) at Queenscliff. 

The regional collaboration of land managers on the Bellarine Peninsula, including the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) Barwon South West Region, demonstrated to participants the innovative management strategies currently being used to manage coastal erosion on this highly dynamic coastline. This coast is experiencing rapid change and will provoke debate on the constraints and opportunities in allowing the coast to be a place of interest and amenity for a range of stakeholders.