Changes along foreshore of Marshalls Creek at New Brighton

Published on 20 December 2024

No parking areas along the foreshore of Marshalls Creek at New Brighton have been extended to protect the area from further erosion.

It comes after representations from the local community citing concerns about the continued degradation of the area which is a popular swimming and recreational haunt for locals and visitors.

Council’s Coast and Biodiversity Coordinator, Chloe Dowsett, said that the management of the foreshore of Marshalls Creek is challenging because of the complexity of the site in land tenure, multiple stakeholders and legislation.

“Council owns the road while other sections are managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Fisheries - Marine Parks, Crown Lands and are privately owned,” Ms Dowsett said.

“This means we are very constrained with what we can do so the first step is introducing parking changes to reduce the impact of vehicles parking on, or too near, the creek bank,” she said.

Large rocks will also be placed in the area to restrict parking and fencing will be in place where needed.

“Signage is being made and will be put up as soon possible. The main message to people being to stay away from the creek bank because it is severely eroded in some areas and could collapse,” Ms Dowsett said. 

Marshalls Creek, a tributary of the Brunswick River, is a very sensitive marine environment and this part of the creek is under a lot of pressure from being ‘too popular’. 

Council is continuing to work with stakeholders towards a long-term solution for the area, aimed specifically at protecting the creek and foreshore area.