A SUGGESTED horse training facility proposed for the area between Viaduct Road and Lady Bay beach has been backed by a local racing industry spokesperson.
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Tammy Good from the South West Owners, Trainers & Riders Association (SWOTRA) said she thought the proposal made by Warrnambool City Council candidate Richard Ziegeler was “wonderful”.
“I’ve brought up that suggestion for the last five years so it’s nice to see a prospective (councillor) jump on board,” Ms Good said.
“It would be a fantastic initiative.”
The proposed area is Crown land managed by the council, which would mean such a plan would have to be negotiated with the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP) and the council.
Ms Good said it would allow horses to be worked all year round and still have limited access to the ocean.
However she said she suspected the area would be required for any future harbour development for boat trailer parking.
In the short-term, SWOTRA was leaning towards Mills Reef, located west of the Port Fairy Golf Club, as a possible home for beach training, Ms Good said.
That option is subject to approval from DELWP and Parks Victoria.
Ms Good said Parks Victoria maps of known hooded plover nests had shown there were “no nests (at Mills Reef) and haven’t been nests there for many years”.
“It was chosen for that particular reason,” she said.
The suggestion of Sandy Bay near Childers Cove as a possible beach training site was news to Ms Good, but it was worth investigating, she said.
But an increasing push from environmental groups could lead to commercial horse training being banned from the entire Belfast Coastal Reserve.
The Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA), BirdLife Australia, the Warrnambool Field Naturalists Club and the Belfast Coastal Reserve Action Group (BCRAG) have all stated horse training should not happen in the reserve.
BCRAG has previously said “the racing industry should stop flogging a dead horse and look at investing in purpose-built facilities”.
The VNPA and BirdLife Australia have also backed a purpose-built facility.
Ms Good previously said such a facility was on SWOTRA’s “wishlist”.
“It would be fine as long as the right sort of sand and the right venue could be found for it,” she said.
But on Friday she told The Standard she had doubts about the idea, saying it was impossible to “replicate beach training – it wouldn’t be the same”.
