The Warrnambool Boardriders Club organised a rally at the Flume at 7am on Friday morning, where more than 90 people gathered to vow to continue the fight to keep racehorses from returning to Levys Beach and Spookys.

Training is set to recommence at Levys for the next few months while a cultural heritage management plan is completed for a permanent location at Spookys beach, which is west of Levys. 

Club president and surfboard shaper Baz Law said the council had voted to allow up to 160 horses per day to use the beach.

“It will endanger native wildlife and make the use of the area by fishermen, beachcombers, surfers, almost impossible,” he said.

“This is pathetic by our council they way they have handled this and rolled over to the racing industry. It’s the thin edge of the wedge. If this is allowed to happen here it sets a precedent for other councils to do the same. The land is a reserve for use by the public, not the racing industry. It’s a very fragile area that has been used for more than 40 years by surfers and probably longer by fishermen. We are in this for the long haul.”

He said surfers needed safe access to Levys and Spookys, and having horses there would put people in danger.

“What we love about going there is that it is still in its natural state,” he said.

He said no-one was against horse racing, but training should not be conducted on beaches.

Cr David Owen, who was the sole councillor to vote against allowing training back on the beach at a special meeting of council on December 21, said there should be no compromises.

“Your councillors have let you down,” he said.

“No professional organisation has been commissioned to carry out a scientific investigation in that area. The privatisation of public spaces for commercial gain should not be allowed to occur.

“There is something sinister about a local council and a State Government that spends its time looking for loop holes and excuses.” 

After the speeches supporters walked down to the beach, where cardboard racehorses held by people ran a short race, and were taken over by a large cardboard hooded plover.

Newly-elected Animal Justice Party upper House MP Andy Meddick was also at the rally, and said he would take the group’s concerns straight to “Spring Street and planning minister Richard Wynne”.

“Public consultation on this has been a sham,” Mr Meddick said.

BirdLife Australia’s Grainne Maguire said in a letter: “Racehorses being permitted to train on beaches, up to 160 in a key hooded plover area, spells disaster for coastal management, recognition of coastal values and for our hoodies trying to breed on these beaches”.

“The values of the Belfast Coastal Reserve make it worthy of a National Park,” she said.

“These are being ignored and put at major risk. Wealthy trainers are exercising their influence and the locals who don’t want this on their beaches are being called ‘greenies’ and told they don’t care about their town’s economy. This type of change sets a dangerous precedent and we need to strongly oppose it.”