Hold up to solution of seaweed build up of Warrnambool beach

In July last year, the council said it was working on a new action plan to combat the "foul-smelling" seaweed that piles up on the main beach.

Tammy Good, a member of the council's harbour reference group, said she was aware of at least one commercial operator that was keen to remove seaweed from the beach and turn it into compost.

She said she was worried they would walk away from the idea if the approval process took too long.

In response to questions from The Standard on how any possible commercial proposal might be progressing, the council said that for the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning to consider approving the removal of seaweed, a highly detailed proposal would be required.

"Questions that would need to be resolved - and which can be difficult to answer because of the unpredictable nature of the ocean - are how much seaweed would be removed? Where would it go? How would it be used? And who would do the removal?" the council said.

"Council continues to use the seaweed to stabilise the dune - an approach that has been in place for several years and which has proven effective."

In July, chief executive officer Peter Schneider said the council was working with user groups to come up with a solution to clear the beach, including the potential of allowing a commercial operation to come in and use it as compost.

His response was in relation to a question about the "unbearable" and "foul-smelling" seaweed that piled up in front of the Pavilion cafe.

It came after Ms Good started a petition early last year which attracted 250 signatures calling for seaweed that was a metre deep in front of the Pavilion to be removed because it was becoming a safety hazard.

The petition prompted the council to promise a review of its policies.

Mr Schneider said the council was trying to come to a solution and the option of putting it out to tender had been considered.

"There is a number of things that possibly could be done with it, for instance it could go into FOGO or composting or something like that if the right person had a system where they were willing to take that on and take the material and could use it in composting," Mr Schneider had said.

"We are exploring all those options."

The council this week said staff had cleared seaweed from in front of the Pavilion several times this summer and would do so again in the coming month and before the May Races.

"Council staff continue to clear the seaweed from as much of the beach as possible and will continue to do so at least thrice weekly, more if necessary. Seaweed removal will continue up to Easter," it said.

"Unfortunately the seaweed accumulates very quickly in this area."

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