The Beleura Cliff Path:
A unique public scenic walk threatened with permanent closure
The Beleura Cliff Path is an iconic scenic walk that leads from Caraar Creek Lane down to the north end of Mills Beach, Mornington. It’s an historic path, cut with pick and shovel in 1922 as a public scenic walk and beach access.
It’s 750 metres long, with a steady, gentle gradient making it ideal for walking , jogging, dog-walking or most often just for getting away from the rat-race.
It has suffered from landslips caused by the mal-performing or inadequate drains. Every slip has a bad drain as its main cause. How can that be? In the 1950s to 70s it was a different time and shire planning permits were given for big mansion style houses on the cliff without attention to storm-water drains. These drains need fixing and the Shire has been unable to find a management strategy to deal with issues of privacy and “who pays what” to solve this problem. In Nov-Dec 2022 two landslips caused serious damage to the path.
The Shire has opted for a lengthy geo-tech inquiry, which at December 1st 2023 had not been finished. Serious inquiries into the causes of the drain-fails, and how to fix them have been put on the back burner. The Geo-tech inquiry has been a convenient way to avoid the difficult and delicate management decisions that need to be made. If the Shire loses this beautiful public walk it will be an unforgiveable loss to future generations.
