The opinion of technical experts did not dissuade community members from calling on Saturday for the public to regain access to the Childers Cove beach.
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An information session held by Parks Victoria at the cove was attended by about 20 people, most of whom were adamant the public regain access after a staircase to the beach was closed in July.
Geotechnical engineer Tony Miner, a consultant to Parks Victoria, told the meeting the steep slope on which the staircase was located was being eroded not only by the sea but also by groundwater seeping through from above.
Mr Miner said the slope had receded about 1.5 metres in about four years and would continue to be eroded.
The ground level was currently below .7 metre below the bottom of the posts that supported the lower section of the staircase.
Mr Miner said he had looked at other locations in the cove but had rejected them because they too steep, on unstable sand slopes or would put people at risk of rockfalls.
Parks Victoria project officer Ron Parker said an option was to improve the beach access to the adjoining Murnanes beach.
Neville Wallace of Mepunga said he believed more rock cages should be placed at the base of the staircase at Childers Cove to stop the wave erosion.
But Mr Miner said rock cages at the base of the staircase would not stop the erosion of the slope by groundwater from the top of the staircase.
Ron Bawden, who used to farm near the cove, said getting safe access to the beach could be done but it appeared to be a matter of how much it would cost.
Childers Cove Progress and Tourism Association secretary Danny Blake said the three beaches in the area, Murnanes Bay, Sandy Cove and Childers, were busy in the summer.
Mr Blake rejected the option put forward by Parks Victoria of building a lookout platform at Childers Cove instead of reestablishing beach access. He said a lookout had been provided previously but people had gone through the fence and climbed down to the beach.
Former Nullawarre resident Bruce Owen said Childers Cove was one of three adjoining beaches in a natural state that had been open to the public.
Many other beaches off the Great Ocean Road were fenced off, Mr Owen said.
An easier alternative is to put more rock wall down there.
- Neville Wallace