No race horses on Spookys Beach, Warrnambool councillors say

Three councillors declared at Monday night's council meeting there would be no more horse training in the area.

Cr Debbie Arnott made the announcement when the council adopted its Wild Coast Master Plan which covers the area from west of the golf club to Spookys Beach.

Cr Richard Ziegeler said the plan cemented the fact there would be no more commercial horse training in the area.

While the plan doesn't directly deal with commercial horse training, he said that was the implication of the plan being adopted.

Cr Max Taylor said he regularly visited the Levys Beach area for recreational surfing and had witnessed first hand the damage the horses were doing in the area.

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"They were moving the sand dunes considerably doing a lot of damage," Cr Taylor said. "I'm glad to endorse the horses to no longer visit the sand dunes west of the golf club."

Cr Arnott said the Wild Coast Master Plan would ensure the precinct remained a recreation destination. She said it would also have long-term ecological benefits and cultural outcomes.

"There will be no more horse training down that way," she said.

Horses on beaches has been a hotly debated issue in Warrnambool for years and even as late as March when the draft master plan was released, getting racehorses to train at Spookys Beach still seemed to be on the agenda.

"It is still well and truly an area of interest," Warrnambool Racing Club chief executive officer Tom O'Connor told The Standard at the time.

But while the plan to train horses on Levys Beach was not dead back in March, councillor comments at Monday's meeting indicated that it now was.

Mr O'Connor said in March the club's focus was on safe access to Lady Bay beach and improving facilities there. "There is a higher priority from the race club and its trainers into the safe access and activity at Lady Bay," he said.

The racing club has been having "in-depth conversations" with the council around infrastructure, car parking and safe access at Lady Bay as part of the proposed harbour redevelopment.

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