IF laws need to be changed to allow racehorses to train at Levys Point Beach, then that's what should happen, according to an upper house MP.
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Western Victorian MP and candidate for South West Coast, James Purcell, on Wednesday encouraged the State Government to fix the horse training at Levys Point issue.
Last Thursday legal advice the Warrnambool City Council received was that horse training at Levys under the Belfast Coastal Management Plan was illegal.
Just days after councillors voted 4-3 for training to resume at Levys for the next five years, The Standard revealed Warrnambool City Council had new legal advice ruling out the practice.
Levys is a Public Conservation and Resource Zone within the city’s planning scheme.
An email from city growth director Andrew Paton to all councillors, seen by The Standard last Thursday, said training was not permitted in that zone.
“The Warrnambool Planning Scheme continues to apply to the reserve notwithstanding the Ministerial consents/permissions granted; and horse training or animal training is a prohibited use on the land to which the PCRZ land applies,” the email said.
“For completeness of advice, clarification is being sought from DELWP on the correct boundary alignment to which the PCRZ applies and what options are available to key stakeholders in terms of next steps.”
Mr Purcell, who owns shares in racehorses and whose son Aaron is an astute trainer, said the plan previously put in place was "absolutely the right way to go".
"Everyone has been through an exhaustive consultation process, the current plan is the solution and I believe it is the right solution," he said.
"We need to make it happen.
"It's not tough. If the current plan is against the law then change the law.
"We've been through it all, let's make it work," he said.
After days of trying to get comment from three State Government departments, comment was released by a spokesperson for Minister for Planning Richard Wynne.
“The State Government is implementing the Belfast Coastal Management Plan, after extensive consultation with the community to balance a range of views, and that work will continue,” she said..
“The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning is in discussions with the City of Warrnambool in relation to this legal advice,” she said.