YALLOCK-BULLUK MARINE AND COASTAL PARK DRAFT ACCESS AND INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN Version C_March 23 2021 Hassell 61 Little Collins Street Melbourne VIC Australia 3000 hassellstudio.com @hassell_studio Prepared For 2 Yallock-Bulluk Marine and Coastal Park Access and Infrastructure Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents 3 Chapter 3 - Draft Access and Infrastructure 47 Acknowledgements 5 Plan Welcome to Country 6 Park infrastructure and Services 48 Connecting with Country 7 Park Experience 50 Chapter 1 - Setting the Scene 9 San Remo 52 Introduction 10 Kilcunda 54 Purpose 14 Powlett River 56 The creation of a new park 16 Wonthaggi West 58 Project Vision 18 Wonthaggi South 60 AIP Objectives 19 Harmers Haven 62 Stakeholder Engagement 20 Cape Paterson 64 Chapter 2 - Design Strategies 25 Bunurong Coastal Drive 66 Caring For Country - Culture and Heritage 28 Inverloch 68 The Strata of Time 30 Wonthaggi to Inverloch Inland Route 70 Caring For Country - Environment 32 Chapter 4 - Draft Access Infrastructure 73 Understanding Coastal and Marine Processes 34 Park Infrastructure Supporting Facilities 74 Access to Country - Loops and Journeys 36 Car Park Upgrade Shack Bay 76 Trail Network 37 Car Park Upgrade The Caves 77 Journey Options 38 Along the way - Trail Nodes 78 Access to Experience 40 Park Infrastructure Kit of Parts 90 Park Supporting Services 42 Park Infrastructure Trail Design 80 Accessibility and Track Grading 44 Bunurong Coastal Drive Trail Options 82 Appendix 1 - Supporting Studies 85 Trail Grading Analysis 86 Appendix 2 - Benchmarks and Precedents 93 Three Capes Track 94 Copper Coast Geopark 95 Park Infrastructure Precedents 96 Yallock-Bulluk Marine and Coastal Park Access and Infrastructure Plan 3 4 Yallock-Bulluk Marine and Coastal Park Access and Infrastructure Plan Acknowledgement to Country We pay our respects and acknowledge Bunurong ancestors, Bunurong elders, the Bunurong community and to our community who call Bunurong Country their home. Our land and waters are our home, it is our cultural landscape that we work towards protecting and preserving for our next generation and for all people on Bunurong Country to value and appreciate. It is a landscape that we connect with our ancestors and nurture our spirits. Yallock-Bulluk Marine and Coastal Park Access and Infrastructure Plan 5 WELCOME TO COUNTRY Respects are given. Welcomes are made. To those now passed in earth they lay. Step gently upon these graves and the spirits shall guide you, They will keep you safe, You will travel across land to Where waves are made. Where feasts were once eaten Where old middens lay. This sacred place in which our past remains. Poem by Darrel Gibbs The illiterate poet. 6 Yallock-Bulluk Marine and Coastal Park Access and Infrastructure Plan CONNECTING WITH COUNTRY Country is living, constantly changing, and evolving. Traveling the Coast The YBAIP enables connection to the cultural and Country is not only the actual physical land, soil or rock, natural values of the park by: that can be stepped upon. Country rather describes the connection between all living and material entities Travel routes, thousands of years in use, connect the ‒ Providing access to information through signage that together form the landscape, including biological, various ceremonial places, living places and sacred ‒ Providing access to information through geomorphological, hydraulic, and even climatic systems places along the Bass Coast. Weaving between ocean interpretation and inclusion of narratives into and processes. break - even beyond over land now submerged, along built form, such as lookouts, shelters, rest stops It includes the person that visits, walks, rides or lives waterways and rivers, and across wetlands teeming [trailheads and trail nodes] and furniture. here. with life. Through sand, forest and scrub. ‒ Respecting and engaging with the values that Country describes a tight and symbiotic relationship When traveling, groups consisting of elders and young, Bunurong people share with the broader between human and landscape, one that is respectful, would use resting times and locations to spin a yarn, community. loving and responsible. This relationship goes both tell a story, teach some knowledge. ways. Today, when taking those routes, ‘yarning circles Country is culture. and places’ along the various routes could provide Bunurong people have developed a deep opportunities to engage with nature, oneself or fellow understanding of, and a caring relationship to Country walkers. sky - and invite non-aboriginal visitors to engage with this relationship and to join becoming a fellow custodian of the land. The Yallock-Bulluk Marine and Coastal Park Access and Infrastructure Plan [YBAIP] can explore how a deeper connection between land and visitor can be achieved, through the creation of awareness and understanding, Earth through the development of opportunities of active engagement. The Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation are working actively with Parks Victoria and DELWP to establish shared roles and responsibilities in Sea management and curation of the park. Poem by Darrel Gibbs The illiterate poet. Yallock-Bulluk Marine and Coastal Park Access and Infrastructure Plan 7 8 Yallock-Bulluk Marine and Coastal Park Access and Infrastructure Plan CHAPTER 1 SETTING THE SCENE Yallock-Bulluk Marine and Coastal Park Access and Infrastructure Plan 9 INTRODUCTION The Bass Coast is located The Site The Setting Dramatic cliffs give way to sandy beaches and, at low For many thousands of years the Bass Coast has been a 90 minute drive from tide, rock shelves expose a diverse intertidal marine home to the Bunurong people. Rich hunting grounds scape of pools, seagrass beds and an abundance of along the coast, in the water, and on land supported Melbourne and offers marine life. settlements such as the large village near San Remo, some of Victoria’s most Lookouts at coastal formations such as the iconic Eagles recorded in 1826 as a settlement of 50 to 100 huts. Nest rock stack provide extensive views along the Large shell middens and the many sacred sites, places visited and internationally dramatic Bass Strait coastline, and offer opportunities and artefacts along the coast are powerful reminders for wildlife watching. Whales can be seen close to the of a human history within these landscapes. recognised tourism coastline on their annual migrations during winter and With its unique natural reserves and extensive fertile destinations, including early spring. agricultural land the Bass Coast shire area is recognised The rugged cliffs and headlands that were formed as a unique place of environmental significance where Phillip Island and its around 95 million years ago are famous for the rich a tranquil lifestyle is paired with strong economic inclusion of fossil finds of national significance. growth based on tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, Penguin Parade. The The coastal headlands form a dramatic backdrop for and residential development. Bass Coast Shire aspires water based recreational activities such as surfing, [Bass Coast Shire Council Strategic Hierarchy 2016] to coast continues east with kayaking, fishing and boating that occur along the be recognised as: another natural highlight, protected bays. The townships like San Remo, Kilcunda, Cape Paterson and Inverloch are popular destinations ‒ A celebration of natural assets; the inspiring wilderness of during the summer months. ‒ A window on the history of Victoria; The land is covered with a fragile layer of sensitive ‒ A village in a technology world; and the Wilsons Promontory vegetation, hardy enough to withstand the raw coastal ‒ A food bowl for Victoria. National Park with South processes, yet vulnerable to human impacts, and The Yallock-Bulluk Marine and Coastal Park has other changing climatic conditions. Many of the present flora associated active government work that is relevant to Gippsland on its doorstep. and fauna communities are listed as endangered and the overall planning. This planning may continue to vulnerable. be influenced by and responsive to these associated projects and include the Distinctive Area Landscape work, new school location, Cape to Cape Resilience Project (Inverloch Regional and Strategic Partnership) for coastal processes at Inverloch, and future road changes.’ 10 Yallock-Bulluk Marine and Coastal Park Access and Infrastructure Plan Melbourne Yarra Ranges National Park Pakenham Longford M1 Princess Highway Geelong Frankston M 420 Trafalgar Port Phillip Bay Tarra-Bulga Queenscliff National Park Western Port Bay French Island Hastings Nyora M 440 Gippsland Highway Phillip Island Cowes Leongatha B460 San Remo REGIONAL ACCESS MAP Anderson Major Road Connection Wonthaggi Inverloch Road Connection Cape Paterson Legend Ferry Route REGIONAL ACCESS MAP Regional Access Major Road Connection REGIONAL ACCESS MAP The Bass CoastV/Line stretches Coach from PhillipRoad Connection Major Road Connection Ferry Route Island in the west to Andersons Inlet Road Connection and InverlochExis totin theg R east.ail T Itrail is locatedV/Line Coach Wilsons Promontory Ferry Route approximately 100km from MelbourneExisting Rail Trail Proposed Rail Trail National Park and is well connected via the SouthPr oposed Rail Trail V/Line Coach Project Site Existing Rail Trail GippslandP Freewayroject Sandite Bass Highway. Tidal River Public transport connects MelbourneCoac h Destinations Proposed Rail Trail Coach Stops on Site with all townshipsCoach Destinationsincluding Cowes, Project Site National Parks