ABOUT US

The Shoreham Foreshore Reserve (SFR) crown land extends from the main beach at Shoreham to its boundary with Point Leo Foreshore Reserve at Seychelles Road.

A Committee of Management (CoM) has been managing the Shoreham Foreshore Reserve since 1929.

Nowadays, three other Committees of Management manage the foreshore reserves of Point Leo, Merricks and Balnarring.

The CoMs have reporting obligations to the Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action (DEECA) which in turn reports to four ministers in the Victorian Government (as at January 2024). The CoMs are appointed on advice from DEECA by the responsible Minister under the Crown Land (Reserves) Act from applicants responding to advertisement. The COMs are obliged to give effect to regulations made by a Minster1 and can generally make further regulations by prominent signage. The CoMs are required to comply with a significant number of government policies and oversight; for example, produce management plans, emergency management plans, annual reports, obtain Minister consent for leasing, provide equity of access to crown land and so on.

The positions on the SFR CoM are entirely voluntary and the appointments made are intended to represent a diversity of public users.

The SFR is entirely self-funded, save for the grants it might receive from DEECA, Melbourne Water, Landcare, or Mornington Peninsula Shire. It uses the revenue from operating the camping grounds and licences to maintain the whole of The Reserve, including the main beach, all the tracks in The Reserve, the three amenity blocks, BBQ’s and shelters.

The cliff top camping ground is often regarded as the most scenic in Victoria. It occupies about one fifth of its foreshore frontage and achieves annual revenue of around $300,000. Many of the campers have very long histories of camping in the reserve; the longest over 5 generations.

The SFR CoM makes policies for The Reserve that the Reserve Manager is required to give effect to. The day-to-day management of The Reserve is carried out by the Reserve Manager, Deidre Cochrane and her staff including two SFR Rangers.

The SFR CoM has legislative power to enforce both regulations made by a Minister and its own regulations of behaviour by directions given by Authorised Officers. The Reserve Manager and the SFR Rangers are Authorised Officers by the CoM.

The SFR CoM consists of ten volunteers drawn from local residents and campers. It’s guiding principles are the good management and custodianship of the whole of The Reserve. It has made a variety of regulations including the prohibition of jet skis