In our March 2025 newsletter we described at some length the ongoing saga of tourist buses entering and parking within the Split Point Lighthouse Precinct. Details of this activity over the Christmas and New Year period were provided along with a summary of interviews conducted by members of AIDA and local residents with bus drivers. We also outlined correspondence and discussions held with Surf Coast Shire and the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPA) over several years on this issue leading to a joint traffic management review of the precinct to be held in 2026.
At the end of the newsletter item we advised that we had written to the Director of Transport Safety at Safe Transport Victoria (on the recommendation of the Surf Coast Shire) regarding this issue. The following response we received was very disappointing:
Whilst Safe Transport Victoria is the statutory authority that regulates buses in Victoria the issues raised are a local laws issue with respect to parking and not a focus area of Safe Transport Victoria.
We subsequently replied to them drawing attention to the following statement on their website: ‘Our job is to ensure that all participants in the bus industry understand their safety duties under the law.’ We argued that ‘safety duties’ should also include the compliance with traffic access and parking regulations enacted by relevant state and local authorities. We reiterated our position that the failure of tourist bus owners, operators and drivers to follow these rules was creating a very unsafe situation for both residents and visitors to the precinct. However, Safe Transport Victoria once again responded that the issues and concerns raised were a local laws/parking issue for the attention of the Surf Coast Shire.
Copies of our correspondence (and accompanying emails) with Safe Transport Victoria have been shared with GORCAPA and Surf Coast Shire, including our local ward councillors. In response the shire has proposed a roundtable discussion in early July at the Municipal Offices involving representatives from the following agencies:
- The Department of Transport and Planning
- National Heavy Vehicle Regulator
- Victoria Police
- GORCAPA
AIDA has been invited to attend the meeting as a community representative. The focus of the meeting is to discuss and identify a way forward regarding how best to collaboratively address the challenge of large tourist buses parking in the Split Point Lighthouse Precinct. AIDA’s stated position on this issue is as follows:
- That current tourist bus access restrictions and parking regulations within the Split Point Lighthouse Precinct should be enforced.
- That tourist bus owners, operators and drivers should be better managed by relevant authorities.
- That we support a joint study of traffic management within the Split Point Lighthouse Precinct by GORCAPA and the Surf Coast Shire in 2026.
The joint study on traffic management cannot come soon enough. We hope that as a result of this study tourist buses will be completely prohibited from entering the Split Point Lighthouse Precinct. We hope to share some positive news with members on this issue following the roundtable meeting.
Ian Laging