Dromana’s Vision for the Arthurs Seat Escarpment: A Holistic Management Approach Dromana is a tranquil but strategically important area on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. It is here that the Arthurs Seat Escarpment is located – a geographical formation that is not only unique in natural beauty, but also of immense value to ecology, cultural heritage, tourism and the local community.
The Dromana hill range is not just a tourist destination, but an extensive ecosystem spanning 573 hectares that includes:
- Arthurs Seat State Park
- Hillview Quarries
- Hillview Community Reserve
- Parkdale Estate
- The entire area is classified as a National Trust Landscape, attesting to its historic and cultural significance.
Balancing environment, heritage and development
The escarpment area supports a number of uses:
- Vegetation restoration to maintain biodiversity
- Recreation in open spaces for the local community
- Agricultural activities
Mining activities from rock formations
Finding a compromise between all those activities has been one of the primary aims of Dromana Council. This is the reason, why the 2023/24 approved budget funds the development of the Dromana Arthurs Seat Escarpment Management Plan in this particular area.
The management planua2508webropol familial soaawaretou0052
- Create a shared vision for the future of the escarpment
- Identify guiding principles
- Create an implementation plan that reconciles environmental protection, economic development and community involvement.
Community input: consultation and participation
No successful policy is built on paper. It requires the involvement and trust of local people. With this in mind, the Council began a consultation process with the community and relevant stakeholders from 20 May to 21 June 2024.
This consultation sought feedback on two major plans:
- Shaping Greater Dromana Plan
- Dromana Arthurs Seat Escarpment Management Plan
- People’s feedback, suggestions and concerns were compiled into a summary report, which was also made publicly available.
Invitation for consultancy but no response received
After consultation with the community, the Council prepared a Consultant Brief and invited 10 qualified consultancy firms to work on it and send their quotations for the development of the Dromana Arthurs Seat Escarpment Management Plan.
However, by 23 October 2024, no institution was able to send a proposal. This was an unexpected situation, which put a stop to this ambitious project.
Council Meeting: Next Steps and Future Plans
Considering this situation, a project update was submitted to the Council in March 2025. Subsequently, a meeting held on 8 April 2025 made several important decisions:
Any decision on the Escarpment Management Plan was deferred until September 2025, so that all community feedback collected so far can be consolidated and made public.
It was also established that the plan will not be reviewed until after the adoption of the new Leasing and Licensing Policy. It is meant to deliver maximum benefit to the community and all their decisions are in accordance with the expectations of the people.
Strategic Waiting, Not Deferral
Whether the project can be called a failure or not, is not fair considering that the project has been shelved momentarily. Instead, it is an intelligent move to make all decisions comprehensible, open and advantageous.
Local residents of Dromana, environmentalists, tourism industries, and anyone interested in maintaining the culture are all optimistic that this ruling will make a way, come months later, to fix the conflict between development and non-development.
The Future of Arthurs Seat:
Nature and Trado Excepted When Christmas Comes Arthurs Seat is not only a natural attraction but also a representation of colorful history, culture, and spirit of the community. The valleys, forests, and cliffs are the tourist attraction site but the region is also considered religious by the local Aboriginal people.
This management plan will not only provide geographic management, but also an opportunity for the local community to reassert their culture, tradition, and values.
Conclusion:
The Arthurs Seat Escarpment Plan in Dromana is not just an administrative document, but a bridge between community and nature. This plan seeks to bring together environmental conservation, cultural heritage, and local participation. Only when the participation of every citizen is ensured, this dream will come true and the future of Dromana will become even brighter.