Changes to Council services and facilities

In line with the latest advice from the Victorian Premier and Chief Health Officer, the following recreation facilities are closing to the public from 11.59pm on Wednesday 5 August, 2020:

• Basketball and netball courts

• Lawn bowls greens

• Equestrian arenas

• Sporting fields, including ovals and pitches (closed to community sport)

• Men's sheds, senior citizen clubs

• Toilets at recreation venues (but any public toilets remain open)

• Community gardens

• Public drinking fountains

• Toilets associated with sports facilities (but any public toilets remain open)

• Skateparks and bike parks

• Playgrounds

• Public BBQ facilities

• Community/recreation centres, halls and rooms (and associated outdoor areas)

• Clubrooms, pavilions and sheds

• Indoor sports facilities

• Winchelsea RV Friendly Parking Area

• Outdoor gyms

Remaining open for use, in line with state government advice, are:

• Beaches (for exercise/recreation only in accordance with physical distancing)
• Golf courses (playing with one other person only, keeping 1.5m apart, maintain 100m distance from all other groups and no sharing of equipment)
• Tennis courts (casual use only – no training or competitions in line with Tennis Guidelines for Regional Victoria, noting pavilion toilets must remain closed)

• Sporting fields, including ovals and pitches (casual use only – no training or competitions)

• Open space reserves

• Public toilets

Gatherings are restricted to no more than 2 people or household members only. Please maintain social distancing of 1.5 metres between people and practise good hand hygiene.

Mask wearing is now mandatory for everyone in Victoria to wear when outside your home and observing the essentials of gathering restrictions, social distancing and maintaining high level hygiene with frequent hand washing and coughing into elbows is more important than ever.

From 11.59pm on Wednesday 5 August, Stage 3 restrictions come into place in regional Victoria.

There will only be four reasons to leave your house: shopping for necessary goods or services; medical care or compassionate reasons; exercise (within gathering and social distance requirements); and work and education, if necessary.

What does this mean if I have a second home in the shire?

People with a second place of residence in the shire will not be able to visit their second home, with limited exceptions to include emergency or maintenance, shared custody, or to stay with an intimate partner they don't live with. 

How many people can I see in private or outdoors?

Gatherings will be restricted to no visitors in private and up to 2 people in public (not including household members). Restrictions return for weddings, funerals and religious ceremonies.

Will my children be able to go to school? 

Remote learning, including for Year 11 and 12s, except for vulnerable children and children of permitted workers, will return from Wednesday 5 August. Childcare and kinder remain open for all children.

Can I play sport or take my children to play sport?

Community sport and facilities will be closed during Stage 3 Stay at Home restrictions. You can exercises with one other person, while maintaining the 1.5m social distancing, or those within your own household.

What about having a meal out, or retail shopping?

Restaurants and cafes will be available for take away and delivery only, with retail shopping restricted to set numbers and only for necessary goods and services.

Exemptions and further information on restrictions for regional Victoria can be found through the DHHS website.

The Department of Health and Human Services remains the lead Victorian agency dealing with the coronavirus disease and for any questions regarding restrictions, we encourage you to stay informed via https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus or the 24 hour hotline 1800 675 398 and contact them immediately if unsure of how any new restrictions may apply to your situation.

More information on face masks, including instructions to make your own

From Tuesday 17 March Council’s main Torquay office, and planning and building services transitioned from over-the-counter to phone, email and internet-based services. People can phone 5261 0600, lodge a request for service via info@surfcoast.vic.gov.au or find information on this website.

People wishing to comment on a submission can email planningapps@surfcoast.vic.gov.au. 

The Council will continue to provide customer service over the phone and online, but services will not be offered over the counter until further notice.

Customer service contact details are:

Lodge a request for service online

Hours: 8.30 am - 5 pm (Monday to Friday)

Phone: (03) 5261 0600 or 1300 610 600

Fax: (03) 5261 0525

Postal Address: PO Box 350, Torquay, 3228

Email: info@surfcoast.vic.gov.au

The Anglesea Resale Shed will remain closed until further notice.

Hours at Anglesea Landfill and all transfer stations have returned to normal.

All facilities will remain cashless and only process account and EFTPOS transactions.

Please adhere to social distancing guidelines.

Payment arrangements at Council waste facilities

All Council waste facilities including Anglesea, Lorne and Winchelsea transfer stations are currently cashless and will accept payments via account or EFTPOS only. Using debit and credit cards instead of cash and making use of online and self-serve transactions can help reduce the risk of infection and slow the spread of coronavirus.

Primary and secondary schools

Remote learning, including for Year 11 and Year 12 students, will return from Wednesday 5 August. Specialist schools remain open for all children and there are exceptions to remote learning for vulnerable children and children of permitted workers. Pease refer to your child’s school for further information.

Surf Coast Shire kindergarten/occasional care/family day care

Kindergarten/occasional care/family dare care will remain open for all children. For safety, additional precautions are in place including staggered drop-off and pick-ups, staff greeting children at the gate, children washing hands before interactions and play, some changes to room layouts and activities. As always, rooms will be cleaned after use and equipment disinfected.

Maternal and Child Health

The Surf Coast Shire Maternal and Child Health service remains available to provide support to our community. To limit the spread of COVID-19 in the community, the service is adopting alternative modes of service delivery. These include consultations taking place via the phone, and nurse visits to the home for families with young or vulnerable infants. All Maternal and Child Health Centres are closed until further notice.

New Parent Groups

We know how important first time parent groups are to new parents. To keep you connected, we have moved our groups online. For more information, please email rsvpparented@surfcoast.vic.gov.au.

Parent Education

Our parent education calendar of events has been suspended due to COVID-19 restrictions.  We are exploring ways to continue providing support to our community. Please email rsvpparented@surfcoast.vic.gov.au if you would like to be kept up to date. The Maternal and Child Health Service continues to operate via alternative modes of service delivery

Kurrambee Myaring Community Centre and Torquay Children’s Hub

Venue hire and activities at Shire facilities have been suspended until further notice. Council will continue to update hirers who use these facilities.

We thank you for your understanding at this time.

DHHS COVID-19 information for parents with infants and young children

Tips for self-isolating with kids.

From Tuesday 17 March, Surf Coast Sport and Recreation Centre in Torquay and Winchelsea Health Club has closed.

In accordance with Federal and State Government guidelines to halt the spread of Covid-19, all upcoming events within the Surf Coast Shire have been cancelled or postponed until further notice. If you would like to receive updates when our events are back up and running, please register your details at www.surfcoastevents.com.au

Note that the following markets are still operating:
Torquay Farmers Market, every Saturday from 8.30am to 1pm - visit https://www.facebook.com/TorquayFarmersMarket/ for details
Aireys Inlet Market has created a ‘Virtual Market’ – visit www.aireysinletmarket.com.au for details

Following is a list of event cancellations to the end of June:

March
Deans Marsh Festival (20 - 22 March): Cancelled 
Torquay Tiger Drop (21 March): Proceeding with no crowd
Winchelsea Uniting Church Auction (21 March): Postponed, with new date TBA
Youth/Senior State Lifesaving Championships (21-22 March): Cancelled
The Sound Doctor Presents (26-28 March): Cancelled
Meadow Music Festival (27-29 March): Cancelled
Surf Coast Trek (28 March): Cancelled  

April     
Green Living Festival (4 April): Postponed, with new date TBA
Rip Curl Pro (8-18 April): Postponed, with new date TBA
Lorne Easter Art Show (9-13 April): Cancelled
The Drop Music Festival (11 April): Cancelled
Great Ocean & Otway Classic Ride (18 April): Cancelled
Cowrie Market (19 April): Cancelled
ANZAC Day services (25 April): Cancelled

May
Bellbrae Primary School Fair (3 May): Cancelled
School Sport Victoria Surfing Titles (8 May): Cancelled
Victorian Junior Surfing Titles (9-10 May) Postponed
Independent Schools Teams Surfing Titles (11 May): Cancelled
RACV Florence Thomson Tour (16 May): Cancelled
Great Ocean Road Running Festival (16-17 May): Re-scheduled to 22-23 August
Victorian SUP Titles - Surfing (16-17 May): Postponed
Victorian Longboard Titles (23-24 May): Postponed
Australian Indigenous Surfing Titles (29-31 May): Postponed

June

Love Winter in Aireys (1 June – 31 August): Cancelled
Anglesea Art & Craft Show (6 June): Cancelled
Shifty Fifty (13 June): Cancelled
The Sound Doctor Presents (19-20 June): Cancelled
Deans Marsh Winter Solstice (20 June): Cancelled
Surf Coast Trail Marathon (27 June): Postponed

Beach car parks and roads are open, but parking regulations will be strictly enforced at all beach locations across the Surf Coast Shire.

Motorists will be able to park in designated parking bays only, and parking regulations will be monitored and strictly enforced. Cars must not be double parked or parked along access roads.

Point Addis

Parking restrictions remain in place on the west (Anglesea) side of Point Addis Rd.

Further changes

The above arrangements will be reviewed each day and if social gathering requirements are not observed it may be necessary to make further changes to prevent public gatherings in accordance with the directions of the Chief Health Officer.

Above all else the direction is if you can stay at home, you must stay at home.

Council has cancelled its 24 March meeting. Read more.

From close of business Friday 13 March Visitor Information Centres in Torquay, Lorne, Winchelsea and Anglesea have transitioned from over-the-counter to phone, email and website-based services.

From close of business Friday 13 March Torquay’s Australian National Surfing Museum has closed. However, the Museum is now running virtual tours for schools.

We have enacted our pandemic response plan and a Council working group is meeting daily to evaluate and respond to the latest COVID-19 developments. Our decision making is being informed by advice from health authorities.

Please contact the Department of Home Affairs for any citizenship enquiries on 131 880 or visit their website https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/. See here for further information about our upcoming virtual citizenship ceremonies.