The erosion at Portsea Front Beach was definitely caused by the Channel Deepening Program. This has been confirmed by an independent report by Water Technology 2022, commissioned by the Mornington Peninsula Shire.
After enormous pressure and the threat of legal action by the Nepean Ratepayers Association, DEECA (under instructions from the Minister) appointed the FSG Group to review all previous reports dating back to 2012 which had been commissioned by the Government, to ascertain if there is any further scientific evidence which would reject the Water Technology conclusions.
This report was discussed in December 2025 with the Shire, but hasn’t been released to the Nepean Ratepayers Association or the community in general. The NRA are expecting to be briefed soon which will allow us to further comment or continue with our potential legal action against the Government.
The NRA is also meeting with the Liberal Party soon to ask them to consider making a pre-election policy commitment, that if they are elected in November 2026 they will remediate the beach in line with the 2017 Advisian Report.
Unfortunately the Allan Government are claiming they can’t fund the $20M required to initiate the Nearshore Reconfiguration Dredging,
which will divert the wave energy that’s been coming since 2009.
I am available on 0412 998177 if anyone wants additional information.
Colin Watson President
Nepean Ratepayers Association
