The Belfast Coastal Reserve Action Group (BCRAG) held a community day at Killarney beach on Saturday which attracted an audience of 120. 

Killarney resident and BCRAG member Shane Howard said the creation of a coastal park would help take commercial training of racehorses off Killarney beach.

“At the moment, there are no formal regulations as to what happens on the beach,” Mr Howard said.

“A coastal park would bring in regulations that would help protect our fragile coastline.

“It would give clarity of direction, there is a lot at stake.

“The Killarney beach should be a local and state treasure.

“A lot of good work has been done revegetating the beach but it is still a recovering landscape.” BCRAG has a three-part petition circulating that is calling for Victorian Minister for Environment Lily D’Ambrosio to impose a moratorium on all commercial horse training activities within the Belfast Coastal Reserve.

It also calls for regulations to be put in place that are enforceable by the land manager to prohibit commercial horse training in the reserve. 

The final part of the petition is the creation of a plan which details the finer management directions of the reserve and provides for a controlled balance of recreational uses including environmentally sustainable safe dog walking and recreational horse riding.

Mr Howard said only 585 hooded plovers remained in Victorian with 10 per cent of that population calling Killarney Beach home.

He said industrial-level horse training was putting that population at high risk.