Surfing Victoria

Keep Australia Beautiful Clean Beaches Awards 2010

Thursday, 24 June 2010

Bells Beach was nominated in 6 categories of the 2010 Victorian Clean Beaches Award. A particular criteria is set by the judges to be met by the nominees. The categories Bells Beach were nominated and for were as follows:

2010 Clean Beach Award
Towards Zero Waste
Pam Keating Environmental Innovation
Protection of the Environment
Young Legends
Community Action
Cultural Heritage

Bells Beach won a total of 4 out of the 6 categoris shown below:

Clean Beach of the Year 2010 Bells Beach
Community Action Bells Beach
Pam Keating Environmental Innovation Bells Beach
Towards Zero Waste Bells Beach

The Melton Shire Council and the iconic Bells Beach were the big winners at this year's Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria Sustainable Cities and Clean Beaches Awards.

Environment and Climate Change Minister Gavin Jennings last night congratulated Melton Shire Council for winning the Sustainable City of the Year Award and Bells Beach for picking up the Clean Beach of the Year Award.

"Melton is one of Australia's fastest growing shires and this year is setting the example on how to manage growth with sustainability while Bell's Beach in Torquay, the site of Australia's most famous surfing competition, has continued to show how local residents respect the environment," Mr Jennings said.

"The Brumby Labor Government is proud to back the Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria Sustainable Cities and Clean Beaches Awards because we understand how important it is to work with the community to ensure our future is clean and sustainable.

"These two communities have led the way in demonstrating how Victorians can improve, maintain and sustain their local environments."

Surf Coast Mayor Cr Libby Coker has welcomed weekend announcements that the Council and the Bells Beach Advisory Committee had taken out the overall Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria 2010 Clean Beaches Award, as well as three separate clean beaches award categories.

"These awards recognise Council's concern for the Bells Beach Surfing Reserve," Cr Coker said.

""Bells Beach is an internationally recognised location and these awards serve to highlight the efforts going into managing this special place."

The Mayor said that, contrary to recent reported comments, draft management plans currently on public display were designed to ensure a sustainable future for the iconic surfing destination.

"The draft Bells Beach Coastal Management Plan is about finding ways to deal with the risks to the fragile environment of reserve and look after it into the future. It is about managing the increasing people pressure it faces.

"The fact that the Surf Coast has won the Environmental Innovation Award for the draft management plan recognises our careful and strategic approach to the long term management of the reserve.

"We have a responsibility to act. If we do not, Bells Beach Reserve will be further degraded. Issues include erosion, inadequate toilets, traffic flow, parking and pedestrian safety.

"We need to manage the tourist buses that visit the reserve and we need to continue to work with the organisers of the Rip Curl Pro surfing competition to lessen the impact of that event.

"The coastal plan proposes to nurture and enhance the reserve, rather than develop it. We are acting out of concern for the place. We want to retain it as an iconic surfing destination."

Surfing Victoria Operations Manager, Pete Murphy attended the Gala Night and accepted the award for Towards Zero Waste.

"It is great that the various user groups and the community are recognised for the effort they put it in to making Bells Beach such a special place." Murphy said.

"In general surfers are quite environmentally minded and aware of keeping any beach as pristine as possible. I think being nominated for so many categories and winning 3 of those is a reflection of the importance af those groups and the part they play in the management of the whole Reserve."