Candidate calls for review of foreshore maintenance cash ‘options’

Jessica Benton
State Government should investigate options for increasing the revenue of foreshore manager Bellarine Bayside, according to an election candidate.
Liberal Bellarine candidate Kurt Reiter said Bellarine Bayside was not earning enough money from campers to cover the costs of maintaining foreshore areas from Portarlington to St Leonards.
Mr Reiter said he could not commit a Liberal Government to providing funding without an investigation of other “sources”.
Last week the Independent reported that Mr Reiter wanted to “overhaul, not abolish” Bellarine Bayside in light of residents’ concerns about maintenance standards.
But he ruled out supporting a push for a City of Greater Geelong takeover.
“Most Bellarine residents already feel the Bellarine is the poor cousin of (the City), with our issues regularly falling to the bottom of the pile,” he said
“Residents simply don’t trust (the City) to manage the foreshore and believe it would use the revenue for other purposes.”
Bellarine Bayside chairman Peter Kenny said an election promise of funding was vital.
He suggested additional funding could come from ratepayers.
“It’s not a problem of how the committee is run, it’s where the funding is coming from,” he said.
“Election promises need to be made. You can overhaul the committee but if there’s no money then the new one is not going to do it any better.
“What people don’t understand is all the works on the foreshore are funded via revenue from the caravan parks, not rates, yet we provide services that in any other city the council would be funding.”
The Independent sought comment from Bellarine MP Lisa Neville but she had not responded when the paper went to press.