Port Phillip SEMP (Part 1) - Parks Victoria

FOREWORD
Parks Victoria is the local port manager for the designated ports of Port Phillip and Western Port. The management of boating and recreational use of
the Bays is a complex undertaking, with responsibilities including recreational navigational aids, dredging, moorings and management of port
infrastructure catering for recreational and commercial activities including tour operators, ferry services, fishing fleets and aquaculture operations.
During 2004/05 alone, the piers and jetties managed by Parks Victoria received an estimated 31 million visits with on-water use of the two bays
accounting for a further 15 million visits.
Public facilities on the bays managed by Parks Victoria include 44 piers and jetties and their associated harbours, approximately 2,500 moorings,
1,000 navigation aids, 13 dredged channels, and a multitude of boat ramps, wharves, breakwaters, sea walls and other structures. Parks Victoria also
contributes to determining the future direction of the bays through strategic planning exercises such as the ‘Bays for Life’ program and active
involvement in the Central Coastal Board and Association of Bayside Municipalities.
Given the scale and diversity of this role, it is vital that Parks Victoria has an integrated system for managing and improving the safety and
environmental management performance of these local ports. This Safety and Environment Management Plan has been prepared under Part 6A of
the Port Services Act 1995. It provides the basis and direction for Safety and Environmental Management within the local ports.
The Management Plan is intended to promote best practice safety and environmental performance across all aspects of local port activities and to
encourage active management of the safety and environmental issues arising from port activities and operations for the benefit of employees, port
users, neighbours and the wider Victorian community.
In preparing this plan, Parks Victoria has consulted a wide range of agencies, stakeholders, community groups and individuals. It is our goal to
continue to strengthen these relationships and to further encourage all interested parties to actively participate in safety and environmental
management.
I endorse this plan and look forward to the improvements that will flow from its implementation.
Mark Stone
Chief Executive
Parks Victoria
Safety and environment management plan for the local port of Port Phillip 3