Set Aside Determinations
Introduction
The Crown Land (Reserves) (Great Ocean Road coast and parks) Interim Regulations 2023 establish a clear set of rules for a consistent approach to the regulation of recreational use of reserves along the Great Ocean Road.
These reserves are currently managed by eight different entities including the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (Authority), Parks Victoria, local councils (Surf Coast Shire, Colac Otway, Corangamite, Moyne), volunteer committees of management (Princetown Recreation reserve Committee of Management, Port Campbell Recreation reserve Committee of Management) and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. Management responsibility for these reserves will be transferred to the Authority to manage by, or on, 1 November 2025, as required by the Great Ocean Road and Environs Protection Act 2020.
The regulations include new powers to provide for better management of parks, such as an ability to make regulations to set aside areas where certain activities are permitted, restricted or prohibited, to waive fees and charges and to allow for increased penalties that are in line with other Crown land regulations.
The regulations provide controls for the land manager to:
- protect environmental and cultural values
- protect public health and safety, including from fire risk
- regulate activities that may, or may not, be allowed in order to protect values
- minimise the impact of people in coast and parks on other people using the same open space.
Many of the regulations are similar to those which apply to other public land, and will complement other laws which govern various matters, such as Aboriginal cultural heritage, non-Aboriginal cultural heritage, campfires, domestic animals and firearms.
Determinations setting aside areas of reserves within the Great Ocean Road coast and parks.
Set asides are necessary to clearly designate areas where public access or use of land is limited, and areas where specified activities are permitted. The Regulations allow the Authority to do so for a range of reasons, including where areas are unsafe for public access or to protect cultural values, or to restrict certain activities.
A set aside determination may specify:
• That it applies to the whole or a specified area of the park; and
• That it applies on specified days, times or periods; and
• That it applies to a class of person, vehicle, vessel or aircraft; and
• Any conditions subject to which the specified activity must or must not be carried out.
It is an offence not to comply with the conditions of determinations setting areas aside.
Under the Crown Land (Reserves) (Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks) Interim Regulations 2023, the Minister for Environment has delegated the power to set aside areas within Great Ocean Road coast and parks areas to the Authority’s Chief Executive Officer and the Director Environment and Coastal Operations.