The contentious issue of racehorses training on south-west beaches has been addressed by the state government in a draft proposal for managing the Belfast Coastal Reserve.
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In a nutshell
The Belfast Coastal Reserve Draft Management Plan outlines the proposed management of a narrow section of public land covering beaches between Port Fairy and Warrnambool for the next 15 years.
The plan says it takes into account locals and visitors who use the reserve for activities including walking, swimming and dog-walking as well as Eastern Marr and Gunditjmara people, who are actively involved in the management of the reserve.
Racehorse training by both small and larger commercial trainers has taken place on a number of the beaches in the reserve. In September 2016, racehorses were banned from the Levys Point dunes after Aboriginal Affairs Victoria “cautioned” Warrnambool City Council about the impact of horse training on Indigenous cultural heritage.
At the moment, licensed racehorse training is only allowed at a stretch of beach called Golfies near the Port Fairy Golf Club.
The draft management plan states: “The location, timing and intensity of activities such as horse riding has been managed to avoid conflicts between uses, and to reduce the risk of damage to environmental and cultural sites.”
Environmental concerns exist for the threatened hooded plover, which nests along Belfast Coastal Reserve beaches.
Close to 100 shell middens, sites of significant Aboriginal cultural heritage, are recorded along the Belfast Coastal Reserve, and the government report suggests Aboriginal people have used the area for at least the past 40,000 years.
The plan separates Belfast Coastal Reserve into two zones – a ‘conservation’ area stretching east from Killarney boat ramp to a spot known as Big Baldy, south of Kellys Swamp, bordered by two ‘conservation and recreation’ areas.
According to Racing Victoria, there are 250 thoroughbred racehorses training around Warrnambool, with 140 training daily. There is a preference for beach training because of the low-impact surface.
How beach horse training works at the moment
- Training is permitted between the breakwater and near the surf club at Warrnambool’s Lady Bay Beach (not part of the Belfast Coastal Reserve). Permit-holders, administered by Warrnambool City Council, are allowed to exercise or swim horses before 10am between March 1 and November 30
- An interim licence system for Belfast Coastal Reserve is in place until June 14, 2018, after which this state government plan is expected to come into effect. The licence allows training from the northern end of Port Fairy’s East Beach from the car park at Skene’s Road east towards Mills Reef for 800 metres (known as Golfies). Outside the hooded plover breeding season – September 1 to April 30 – the licence also permits training at Gormans Lane/Rutledges Cutting, south of Tower Hill, from the Rutledges Cutting middle car park east towards Levys Beach for 1200 metres. At the moment, a maximum of between 20 to 50 horses are allowed to train in the reserve each day, and permits are managed by Warrnambool Racing Club.
How beach horse training would work under the proposal
- Commercial horse training would be permitted under licence at Golfies (near the Port Fairy Golf Club) from dawn to 10am Monday to Friday with a maximum of 50 horses per day from December 1 to March 1 and a maximum of 20 horses per day from March 2 to November 30.
- Commercial horse training would be permitted under licence at a significant stretch of beach, up to five kilometres, running west from Levys Point, which a spokesman for Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said included sand dunes, estimated to be another 750 metres.
- Small numbers of horse trainers would be permitted to operate under licence at Rutledge’s Cutting and Killarney Beach.