Barwon Coast plan could end unlimited parking at four beach spots

Unlimited parking at four coastal car parks along the Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads foreshore, in the City of Greater Geelong, could end under Barwon Coast’s 15-year Foreshore Master Plan, the Geelong Advertiser reported on Instagram on 30 October. For businesses and developers near the foreshore, it signals tighter visitor parking at the beach is now on the table.

Barwon Coast, the committee of management for the coastal reserve, released the draft master plan for community feedback on 1 June 2026. Its own notice lists improving car parking and pedestrian movement among the plan’s aims, alongside signage, coastal hazards and connections across the reserve.

Why it matters

Free, unlimited parking has long supported day-trip traffic to the Bellarine Peninsula’s beaches. Time limits at four sites would change how visitors use the foreshore, and how much trade spills into nearby shopping strips. Any change applies to Crown land managed by Barwon Coast, not a private development, so it sets the parking conditions surrounding landholders and retailers will work within rather than a project of its own.

The Geelong Advertiser’s post did not name the four car parks in its caption, and this desk could not read the plan’s parking provisions directly. The affected sites are therefore not identified here.

For hospitality and retail operators in Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads, the question is turnover. Time-limited bays tend to move cars through faster, which can lift the number of visits a strip receives but shorten each one. Operators who rely on all-day beachgoers, such as surf schools and cafes near the sand, have the most to weigh once the four sites are named.

Elsewhere in the City of Greater Geelong, the four-court Tarratarra Stadium opened early in Armstrong Creek this week.

The numbers

Two figures trace to the Geelong Advertiser report: four coastal car parks and a 15-year plan horizon. One date traces to Barwon Coast’s own site: the draft was released for feedback on 1 June 2026. No space count, fee or time limit has been verified from either source.

What’s next

The changes remain a proposal until Barwon Coast adopts the final plan and sets parking controls at each site. The next document to watch is Barwon Coast’s own publication of the plan’s parking provisions, which would name the four car parks and the limits proposed for each. Businesses near the foreshore should check that document for any change to loading, staff parking or access before the summer peak.