Seashells deemed too dangerous for children on Australian beach

Shells are being removed from a Mornington Peninsula beach after a foreshore committee deemed them too dangerous for children's feet. The committee, responsible for managing seven kilometres of coast stretching from Rye to Sorrento, has ordered oyster shells be cleared from Blairgowrie beach in time for the summer peak season.

But the decision has provoked criticism the committee is being overly protective and bureaucratic. Kelvin Stingel, from the Whitecliffs to Camerons Bight Foreshore Committee of Management, said residents' complaints about the "hazardous sharp" shells had prompted the volunteer body to act.

"We haven't had any reports of people being injured but they said that they might get injured," Mr Stingel said. "I walked across it myself and I wouldn't let my kids run across it, it is pretty bad." Mr Stingel said the oyster shells were not part of the beach's natural ecosystem and were believed to have been dumped during a dredging project 20 years ago.



However, Sorrento resident Keith Stead, a retired psychology academic and keen dog walker, said the committee's decision to rid an area known as Camerons Bight of the shells was "bureaucracy gone mad".

"I think it's ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous," he said. "If they're going to get rid of the shells I hope they're not going to decide to get rid of the rocks and stones as well - it would just go on and on."

Dr Stead said if parents were worried about their children they should teach them to be careful and wear sandals. "I think we can probably do more harm to our kids by constantly trying to wrap them in the proverbial cotton wool and keep them from all danger and not have them recognise danger when they're by themselves," he said.