Bellarine Bayside Foreshore Committee of Management (Bellarine Bayside) is a not-for-profit, Category 1 coastal Committee of Management formed by the Victorian Government in 1994 to manage 17 kilometres of coastal Crown land reserve on the northern Bellarine Peninsula.

Bellarine Bayside is responsible for the management of the coastal reserve in accordance with the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978, the Marine and Coastal Act 2018 and related subordinate legislation and policy set by the Victorian Government. Bellarine Bayside is responsible for ensuring the land is managed, maintained, improved and controlled to provide cultural, environmental, social and economic benefits for the Victorian community.

There are a range of values and uses along our coast and with limited coastal space, there is a need to balance values and uses.

Coastal and Marine Management Plans (CMMP) are a mechanism for land managers to implement an agreed vision for an area of the marine and coastal environment. The CMMP will provide a coordinated and integrated approach to balance the northern Bellarine Peninsula's cultural, environmental, social and economic values, highlighting priorities for the next five years in line with a longer-term vision and goals. It will translate objectives, aspirations and values into on-ground action.

The CMMP will show how we, as a land manager, will achieve the management vision for an area of marine and coastal Crown land, which:

• protects and enhances the cultural, environmental, social and economic values of the marine and coastal environment now and in the future,
• balances competing uses of finite, unique and sensitive resources,
• enhances the benefits of ecosystem goods and services provided by the marine and coastal environment, and
• ensures collaboration with other land managers and agencies to align objectives and outcomes.

The CMMP will cover the entire 17 kilometre stretch of coastline that we manage from Portarlington, through Indented Head to St Leonards, comprising approximately 200 hectares of coastal land of significant cultural, environmental and social importance.

The marine and coastal areas do not stop at our management boundary, and the CMMP will adopt a coordinated and collaborative approach with Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, adjoining land managers, government agencies and the community. This approach will encourage systems, flows and processes in the broader marine and coastal environment to be managed cohesively to promote healthy, resilient and functional ecosystems and improve the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of management actions.