Nudists could lose their right to swim in the buff, with Wyndham council announcing a review of Werribee South beach’s clothing-optional status.
The council is considering forcing visitors to Campbells Cove to keep their bathers on by revoking the right to bathe nude at the beach.
Campbells Cove is one of only four official clothing-optional beaches in Victoria.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Post a comment below
The others are Sunnyside North at Mount Eliza and Point Impossible and Southside at Torquay.
Mayor Bob Fairclough said the review was warranted because the beach was not as secluded as it used to be.
“With encroaching urban growth, increased usage of the foreshore and Wyndham city’s intent to upgrade landscaping in and around the Campbells Cove precinct, a review of whether the clothing-optional status can remain is necessary,” he said.
The review has the support of the Ratepayers of Werribee South, who raised their concerns about the beach with the council last year.
Group president Marisa Berton said the community felt that having a nudist’s beach in Werribee South was no longer appropriate given the area’s population growth.
“There is a new car park there and it looks like a family beach … times have changed and maybe that needs to change too,” she said.
But a spokesman for Solar West, a group which organises nude swimming nights at Werribee and Doveton, said having a clothing-optional beach at Werribee South was ideal.
“Having a clothing-optional beach relatively close to the city is a good thing. It makes it easier to get to and, access to this particular beach can also be seen as disabled friendly.”
Any decision to change Campbells Cove’s status will need to be approved by Planning Minister Matthew Guy.
Submissions on the review can be made to the council by emailing campbellscovefeedback@wyndham.vic.gov.au by June 3.
