In just five days a ground swell of community support has garnered over 2500 signatures for a petition to Save the Inverloch Lifesaving Club, triggering a debate in state parliament.
The petition which calls for immediate planning and engineering solutions to protect the surf beach and preserve the Inverloch Surf Lifesaving Club will be tabled on Thursday this week by The Nationals’ Melina Bath, who is backing the community’s cause.
Ms Bath is criticising Labor for its failure to tackle coastal erosion but praised locals saying, “Club volunteers, local businesses and residents are to be congratulated for standing up against years of inaction by Labor.”
“In the past ten years over 70 metres of beachfront has been lost to erosion.
“The Cape to Cape Resilience Project draft plan led by the Labor government has taken four years to produce and offers no actionable recommendations.
“The community sentiment embodied in this petition is a compelling case for the state government to save the Inverloch Surf Lifesaving Club and one of Victoria’s safest and most iconic surf beaches.”
Ms Bath emphasised that Labor needs to look a few hundred metres down the beach in both directions to see examples of engineering solutions that are being used to good effect.
“The overwhelming response to this petition shows that the Inverloch community is extremely concerned about the future of their loved beach and public assets.
“Residents understand the critical role the surf beach and lifesaving club play in the town’s social and economic future and are determined not to let it wash away.
“Dune restoration and engineering solutions to combat coastal erosion are long overdue – The Nationals and community are telling Labor, the time for talk is over.
“Thank you to Glenn Arnold and Stephen Duncan from the Inverloch Surf Lifesaving Club for their exemplary leadership on this critical issue.
“Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage coastal erosion and Inverloch residents are paying the price.”
