Our Beaches and Foreshores

With 192 kilometres of coastline along Port Phillip and Western Port, Mornington Peninsula Shire has a strong interest and long-standing commitment to being leaders in coastal planning and management. The Shire has developed a suite of coastal and marine management plans to guide the management and future of our coastlines.

Mornington Peninsula Shire

The Mornington Peninsula Shire directly manages 64 kilometres of this over several coastal foreshore reserves on the Peninsula (Council is the appointed Committee of Management pursuant to the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978 or the freehold landowner), including:

• Flinders Foreshore (northern section): Beach near Flinders pier facing Westernport
• Hastings Foreshore
• Mornington Foreshore: Fishermans, Mills, Scout, Shire Hall Beaches
• Mount Eliza Foreshore: Canadian Bay, Daveys Bay, Earimil North and South, Moondah, Ranelagh, Sunnyside Beaches
• Mount Martha Foreshore: Mount Martha North and South Beaches
• Portsea Foreshore: Portsea Front, Fishermans and Shelley Beaches
• Rosebud Foreshore: McCrae/Rosebud Beaches
• Rye Foreshore: Rye Front Beach
• Safety Beach Foreshore: Safety Beach
• Sorrento Foreshore: Sorrento Front Beach

Parks Victoria

Parks Victoria or the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) manage a large proportion of beaches on the Mornington Peninsula. This stretch is from the Quarantine Station on Port Phillip Bay in Point Nepean National Park along the back beaches of Mornington Peninsula National Park to Flinders Ocean Beach. These beaches include:

• Bushrangers Bay 
• Cape Schanck
• Gunnamatta Beach
• Point Nepean National Park
• Portsea Ocean Beach
• Rye Ocean Beach
• Sorrento Ocean Beach
• St Andrews Beach
• Flinders Ocean Beach

Voluntary Committees of Management

A number of foreshores across the Mornington Peninsula are managed by locally run Volunteer Committees of Management. These include the following beaches along with how to contact them:

• Balnarring Beaches (Balnarring Beach Foreshore and Parks Reserve Committee of Management)
• Blairgowrie Front Beach (WhiteCliffs to Camerons Bight Foreshore Reserve Committee of Management)
• Capel Sound and Tootgarook Beaches (Capel Sound Foreshores Committee of Management)
• Crib Point / Stony Point (Crib Point - Stony Point Foreshore Committee of Management)
• Dromana Beach (Dromana Foreshore Committee of Management)
• Merricks Beach (Merricks Beach Foreshore Committee of Management)
• Point Leo (Point Leo Foreshore Park and Reserve Committee of Management)
• Shoreham Beach (Shoreham Foreshore Reserve Committee of Management)
• Somers Beaches (Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP))

The following map shows the boundaries of these:

Download: Committees of Management Map(PDF, 1MB)

Mornington Peninsula wide - Engagement and Advocacy

The Mornington Peninsula Shire also engages with the State government to influence broader coastal policy matters such as the proposed Marine and Coastal Act, the Victorian Coastal Strategy and the Regional Coastal Action Plan.

The Shire is an active member of the Association of Bayside Municipalities and directly employs experienced coastal planners who are responsible for facilitating positive outcomes for the coast through advocacy with partner agencies and the State government, liaising with the community, developing management plans, reviewing planning applications and coordinating improvement projects. The Shire is also responsible for ensuring strategies and policies are developed in line with State Government Legislation and Strategies.