Fishermans Beach car park upgrade
Project overview
The Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority will upgrade the car park and surrounds at Fishermans Beach, known to many as Fishos.
The area, home to the Torquay Angling Club, Torquay Marine Rescue Service and Salty Dog Café, provides boating and beach access for the local community and visitors.
Fishos is a popular and much-loved area for all sorts of activities.
It has Torquay’s only boat ramp and when the fish are biting, it gets very busy. We want to make it safer, easier to access, and more enjoyable.
Project engagement
Across two community engagement periods - in September 2022, and May 2023 - designs for the Fishos upgrades were presented, discussed, reassessed and finalised, thanks to input from the local community, user groups and other project stakeholders.
In May, the community received the final designs for the Fishermans Beach car park upgrade positively. They can be found HERE. An Engagement Report for the May 2023 community engagement can be found in the document below.
How the upgrade will improve Fishos
We have a plan to improve the car park and surrounding area. We developed the plan to do this in 2020 with the former Great Ocean Road Coast Committee.
We have two main objectives at the car park:
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Upgrade the car park. We want to make it easier and safer for everyone to use. We plan to keep the same number of parking spots for cars and boat trailers. We also plan to seal the surface so it’s cleaner, nicer, and drains better.
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Reduce risk and make it safer for everyone who works or plays at Fishos. For example, we want to make crossings safer for people who launch and retrieve boats, use the beach access ramp, go to the cafe, walk their dogs or use the Surf Coast Walk.
The upgrade will also:
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Make it better for the environment by using water wisely, improving the drainage, and installing pollutant traps.
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Increase accessibility by building an access ramp that people of all abilities can use. This will encourage people to use the new access ramp rather than the boat ramp to get to the beach.
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Improve the Surf Coast Walk by sealing this high use area. We’re considering what kind of crossings and access points we could have to improve this trail.
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Adding a weight gantry and an historic winch.
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Protecting the dune system in front of the boating car park by fencing and revegetation works.
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Make the space at Fishos more enjoyable by:
- sealing the car park
- planting more trees to increase shade
- making more paved areas
- adding stairs and a ramp to get to the beach
- adding board walks and additional seats
- adding two outdoor showers
- making the fish cleaning table bigger
- adding bike parking
Project Funding
The design stage of the project is funded by the Victorian Government and is part of the $18.197 million Great Ocean Road Visitor Experience Uplift grant to deliver improvements to the visitor experience along the iconic Great Ocean Road.