By Luke Voogt
A controversial proposed elevated walkway and viewing area at Bells Beach could sway the Surf Coast Shire council election, with ballots closing today.
Surfrider Foundation renewed its campaign against the plans this month, accusing the shire of favouring multi-national companies and organisations over locals.
The foundation’s Surf Coast branch secretary Darren Noyes-Brown said the World Surf League (WSL) should continue to pay $5000 to $10,000 for a temporary platform each year for the Bells Beach Rip Curl Pro.
The WSL received more than $2 million combined in naming rights from Rip Curl, state government funding and ticket sales from the event, he said.
“The council and state government seem hellbent on building this viewing platform for the WSL, at ratepayers and taxpayers’ expense,” he said.
The proposal was “a microcosm” of “rampant” overdevelopment “running wild” in Torquay and Jan Juc, Mr Noyes-Brown said.
In a November 2019 shire survey, 54 per cent of 379 respondents said they “loathed” the plans.
A 2018 survey found 70 per recent of 502 respondents “loved”, “liked” or “could live with” similar plans, while 19 per cent “loathed” them.
Mr Noyes-Brown said both surveys’ three positive response options, with only one neutral and one negative, skewed the results in favour of the plans.
He also slammed the shire for conducting public consultation after securing $128,000 in state government funding for the project, rather than before.
Torquay ward council candidate Maurice Cole took aim at the plans and posted emails obtained under Freedom of Information between the shire and WSL.
Mr Cole also criticised then-mayor and chief executive, David Bell and Keith Baillie, for meeting with WSL representatives in Hawaii in 2018.
But a shire spokesperson said Cr Bell and Mr Baillie met with the representatives while both on private holidays at their own expense.
“They did this in their own time and without incurring any costs to council. Councillors were aware this occurred.”
Council approved an alternative motion for a temporary walkway for this year’s Rip Curl Pro, which was eventually cancelled due to COVID-19.
The shire plans to re-examine the permanent walkway plans in 2021.
