Council Backs Down Over Calls To Shut Down Melbourne’s Only Nude Beach
Image: Image: Save Sunnyside North Clothing Optional Beach Change.Org petition.
A local council last week backed down over a push to close down the only nudist beach close to Melbourne city.
Mornington Peninsula Shire Council voted on December 6 to maintain the clothing-optional status of the Sunnyside North Beach located at Mount Eliza.
Sunnyside North Beach is one of the three clothing-optional beaches in Victoria, and the only one in Metropolitan Melbourne. The other two beaches are near Torquay.
Right To Be Free Of Clothes
According to Keep Sunnyside Beach Clothing Optional Facebook group, the beach has been clothing-optional since the 1980s.
“We believe that removal of the current legal right to be free of clothes on Sunnyside North beach would be in breach of Section 19 of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities,” a change.org petition to maintain the clothing optional status of the beach said.
The petition, which garnered over 1,800 signatures, said that for over three decades “families and friends have peacefully and quietly enjoyed the freedom to swim, sunbathe or walk along the sand without the restrictions of clothes. The beach is clothing optional, so no one is forced to be naked.”
“The beach is very secluded and private with relatively difficult access so it is unlikely that anyone would accidentally find themselves confronted by a nude person unless they deliberately made their way to the beach,” the petition said. Loss of the beach would mean that people would have to travel to Torquay to be free of clothes, the petition added.
Over 90 Per Cent Support Nudist Beach
A community consultation by the council found that around 92% of 4000 people surveyed supported maintaining the clothing-optional status of Sunnyside North Beach.
At the council meeting, councillors voted to support maintaining the beach as clothing-optional. They also passed a motion to seek Government support and funding “for urgent matters concerning police monitoring, car park bays, surveillance cameras, signage, toilets and access problems”.
“The Council supports the pursuit of the actions as suggested by the local community, to improve the area regarding safety and enforcement, aesthetics, access, and behaviour change,” the motion said.
Buoyed by the success of its campaign to save the nudist beach, the Keep Sunnyside Beach Clothing Optional Facebook group announced that it would celebrate the win on Boxing Day, December 26, at the beach.
The group also kicked off an Australia-wide campaign on Facebook, seeking the names of beaches across the country that could be made clothing-optional.
“ They also passed a motion to seek Government support and funding “for urgent matters concerning police monitoring, car park bays, surveillance cameras…”
That bit sounds ominous. I don’t expect to be surveiled going to a relatively remote beach, and I’m not aware of any particular crime issue in the area..