Gellibrand to Cape Otway – May 2025
We’ve been appointed to take on management responsibility for land parcels around the Lorne Country Club, the Aire River Valley and Wildlife Reserve, Johanna Falls Scenic Reserve, and Latrobe Bushland Reserve.
Why are land management transfers taking place?
The coasts and parks along the Great Ocean Road are so special, and so important to Victorians, that the Government established the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority as the dedicated parks manager.
We are excited to continue our evolution as the dedicated Crown land and sea manager for the Great Ocean Road coast and parks, taking on management responsibility for further land, sea and bushland parcels.
As at 1 May 2025, we’ve been appointed as the land manager for a further 42 parcels of Crown land located between Lorne to Peterborough, include coastal areas, bushland, waterway frontages, and ecologically significant areas that were previously managed by DEECA and Parks Victoria as directed by the Great Ocean Road and Environs Protection Act 2020.
This includes land around the Lorne Country Club, the Aire River Valley and Wildlife Reserve, the Melba Gully State Park, Johanna Falls Scenic Reserve, and Latrobe Bushland Reserve.
It is part of a series of transfers of land management responsibility within the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks.
How will we manage these land and marine water parcels?
We have worked closely with DEECA and Parks Victoria to ensure a smooth transition of management responsibility for these parcels so the local community and visitors should not experience any change in the way they use the areas.
While our short-to-medium term management of this land will remain consistent with that applied by DEECA and Parks Victoria, we are engaging with community to best understand the areas and shape our management plans for the future.
We’re also working with Traditional Owners to respect and uphold the cultural values and support how their rights, obligations and assertions are embedded into marine and coastal planning and management.
Image: Lake Horden