13th consultations defended: Process ‘OK’

KIM WATERS
FORESHORE managers have rejected claims of a “sham” consultation process over controversially proposed 13th Beach access trails.
Barwon Coast Committee has defended the process while rejecting calls to instead widen 13th Beach Road which he called a greater threat to the environment.
Ocean Grove’s Wayne Brissett this week accused the committee of removing main arguments from “abbreviated” submissions forwarded to members for review.
“When submissions criticising Barwon Coast and its projects don’t make it past management and on to committee members you have to question who’s filtering the information and whether the process is as objective as possible,” Mr Brissett said.
“Barwon Coast keeps informing the public that the number of people in favour of the dune trail proposal out-numbered the amount of submissions against it but many of the in-favour submissions were just an identical preform e-mail.”
Mr Brissett favoured widening 13th Beach Road to building the access path through dunes.
Committee general manager Job Jordan rejected the criticisms.
“Every single submission, all 119, were available in full to committee members and committee members read all of them. A summary document was produced because the committee asked me to produce one.”
Mr Jordan said widening 13th Beach Road would remove more vegetation than building the access track.
Barwon Coast was working with City of Greater Geelong on “a range of options” to improve traffic management on the road, he said.