Beach cleaning
From 1 July 2024, our Port Phillip beaches have all been cleaned solely by hand as part of a new 12-month trial. The frequency of cleans has remained the same, with each Port Phillip beach cleaned fortnightly. Four months into the trial, we are ready to share the first report with our community.
Why hand cleaning?
The trial came about after investigations found that the mechanical rake only removed about 40 per cent of litter and sometimes broke plastic items into smaller pieces and buried them in the sand. The investigation also found 85 per cent of the material collected by the rake and taken for waste disposal was organic matter, such as seaweed. Removing seaweed from beaches means taking away a major food source for marine animals such as birds, crabs and fish.
We also want to reduce the amount of organic matter in landfill to limit dangerous methane gases that contribute to poor environmental outcomes.
Seaweed, tides and seasonal changes
Seaweed is a natural part of the beach, and it comes and goes with the tides and winds. Typical seasonal wind patterns see the wind moving north-westerly during the colder months. This is evident with the amount of seaweed present on our Port Phillip Bay beaches in winter. Heading into summer, the wind patterns tend to change and we are likely to see less seaweed on our beaches in summer.
Seaweed left on the beach will decompose rather quickly and blow onto the foredune areas where it will help stabilise the vegetation. We are keeping an eye on this to find out how quickly it breaks down and what benefits the seaweed has on the flora and fauna.
Feedback from community members
Updated October 2024
Our community members have been very forthcoming with feedback. Some people have told us they are starting to notice more shorebirds and marine animals on our beaches, which is fantastic.
Not all feedback has been positive. Many are concerned about seaweed on the beach. We had some big storm events in September that brought more seaweed and debris onto our beaches than usual. In fact, it was the windiest September in seven years. With the storms and strong north-west winds, we copped more than just seaweed: litter and rubbish from other municipalities came onto our beaches from across the bay (including a large wheelie bin from the Bellarine Peninsula). It is thanks to the hand-cleaning method we know that not all rubbish collected here is from the Mornington Peninsula. The cleaning team record debris and rubbish from other councils. We will reach out to our colleagues across the bay to share our findings and discuss what can be done to limit the amount of rubbish moving across the bay and onto our beaches.
The power of community
Across the Peninsula, volunteers play a major role in keeping our beaches clean. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who does their bit, whether they are a part of an organised group, take part in clean up events or just pick up rubbish when they see it.
What happens next?
Fortnightly cleans will continue over summer. We will continue to monitor the beaches and the type of litter we pick up.
The trial will run until 30 June 2025. It is important we let the trial run for the full 12 months to get an accurate understanding of the pros and cons of hand cleaning. This will allow the new Council to make an informed decision about how best to clean our beaches in the future.
We will keep the community informed and look forward to sharing the findings of the next quarterly report early next year.
Beaches on the ocean side of the Peninsula, from Point Nepean to Somers are not cleaned on a regular schedule – either by hand nor rake.
Share your feedback
Feedback from residents and visitors will help us understand how well the new cleaning program is working. Share your feedback until 30 June 2025.
Use the map below to find the beach cleaning locations and the scheduled cleaning date. Use the search tool to find a beach.
FAQs
Which beaches are being hand cleaned?
The hand cleaning schedule includes all Mornington Peninsula’s Port Phillip Bay beaches from Portsea to Mount Eliza, the trial hand cleaning area is not inclusive of Western Port Bay beaches.
Beaches on the ocean side of the Peninsula, from Point Nepean to Somers are not cleaned on a regular schedule – either by hand nor rake.
How often are the beaches hand cleaned?
Beaches are hand cleaned at the same fortnightly frequency that was previously used for mechanical raking allowing the accurate comparison of the previous and trialled cleaning measures.
Why can’t you turn the seaweed collected by the rake into compost?
The seaweed collected by the rake is too contaminated with plastic to turn into compost.
Why is there more litter in winter?
A Beach Cleaning Review was completed in 2023 which found the mechanical rake missed up to 60 per cent of litter and sometimes broke plastic items into smaller pieces and reburied them. Winter is notoriously a difficult time for cleaning our Port Phillip Bay beaches as the prevailing weather systems push rubbish from within the bay to our shores. We also often see erosion at this time, which can expose buried litter. Therefore, we expect higher volumes of litter at this time of year, regardless of cleaning method. We expect hand cleaning is removing more litter from the beach and maintaining the valuable wrack within the natural environment. This organic material provides great environmental benefits and we are hearing positive stories from the community of more shorebirds and dune vegetation starting to grow.
We expect that this winter will be the most challenging due to the buried litter. Cleaning by hand should allow us to prevent the compiling effect of litter being buried and trapped within the sand that we were seeing from the mechanical raking. However, with the dynamic nature of our coast, the beaches where we see erosion this year may not be the same again next year. We have been finding litter that is decades old (e.g. 2004) being exposed and removed from our beaches. So, it will likely be a longer-term process to remove buried litter.
Is the Shire considering adding to the team of five full time workers currently hand cleaning the beaches?
The level of service provided by the team is something we are monitoring as part of the trial. At this stage it is too early to determine the recommendations for future cleaning programs.
How will the Shire manage cleaning the beaches during the peak season?
We will be cleaning the beaches at the same frequency as we did when the beaches were mechanically raked. The only difference is that this time the cleaning will be done by hand. We will be completing education campaigns to encourage visitors to leave the beaches the way they found them. Our beaches are one of our greatest attractions and we ask that everyone respects the environment and other beach users by disposing of their litter appropriately.
What can be expected for summer?
Strong northerly winds over the winter period have directed rubbish and seaweed to our beaches from the across bay. Looking back on previous years, we expect that come summer there will be a change to more southerly winds with less seaweed and litter washing up on the beaches.
How do you deal with dead fish and birds?
Our beach clean team will dispose of dead fish and birds on beaches from the shoreline up to the vegetation. Hand cleaning means we are able to keep a record of the birds and fish, and any other marine animals that we come across. This type of data collection is not possible with the mechanical rake method.
I’ve heard the Shire relies too much on volunteers
We are very fortunate with the volunteers we have on the Mornington Peninsula. While we are not relying on volunteers in this trial, their efforts make a massive difference to the cleanliness of our beaches – both before the trial begun and now. We thank our volunteers for their efforts and ongoing commitment to preserving our beaches.
How can I become a volunteer?
Beach Patrol groups are always looking for volunteers and would love to have you. Find a list of local beach patrol groups at: Beach Patrol
How are you monitoring the trial?
Citywide are collecting a full range of statistics including litter volumes per beach that will be critical to understanding the pattern of litter presence. In addition to this we are completing monitoring every 6 weeks to understand the efficiency of hand cleaning and to observe the natural environment and changes in seaweed presence. We are also working with local BeachPatrol groups to understand what our volunteers are collecting. Access to greater detail and results regarding the monitoring methods of this trial has been made available in the Quarterly Progress Reports.
Where can I find the results of this trial’s monitoring?
For each quarter of the trial Progress Reports will be posted on our beach cleaning webpage to provide a summary of the findings of monitoring and additional data collected from the contractors and local community. This will serve as an informative resource aiming to answer the communities’ questions and concerns.