The debacle that is the issue of commercial horse training on beaches around Warrnambool is, frankly, an unwelcome gift that just keeps on giving. For years, the region’s burgeoning and lucrative horse racing industry has had access to our beaches and dunes to train hundreds (if not thousands) of thoroughbreds, mostly famously 2015 Melbourne Cup winner Prince of Penzance.
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Then came the state government’s Belfast Coastal Management Plan. The plan allowed for the continuation of commercial horse training arrangements, essentially creating a new area for commercial horse training at Levys Point beach and surrounding dunes.
It now seems evident that both the state government and Warrnambool City Council failed to manage – or communicate – planning issues surrounding the Levys area. It’s understood council had presumed the plan overruled local planning laws. Councillors therefore voted to allow the continuation of commercial horse training on October 22. However, it was then revealed that council had in fact received legal advice that commercial horse training was illegal on that beach under local planning laws.
Council then voted on October 26 to rescind its earlier vote and vowed to not take any future further action. For the council, it has been an embarrassment and a mess. With long-time CEO Bruce Anson retiring at the end of the year and a new CEO in the offing, enter new mayor Tony Herbert.
This week he backed the racing industry and the Belfast plan by saying council will revisit its latest vote after the state election on November 24.
It is possible council will now have to change its planning scheme (a torturous process that could take 18 months) or hope the new state government intervenes. Environmentalists feel they have achieved a victory ensuring the future of our pristine beaches. The racing industry feels unloved and rumbles about moving on.
The council faces a huge challenge to sort out the mess and strike a workable balance that both ensures the continuation of the lucrative racing industry and the preservation of our spectacular and important ecosystems.