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Nirranda Coast

Other Name Bay of Islands Coastal Park Location NIRRANDA VIC 3268 - Property No L10268 File Number L10268 Level State

[1/3] L10268 Bay of Islands [2/3] L10268 Bay of Islands [3/3] L10268 Bay of Islands

Statement of Significance

The Nirranda Coast citation includes the Bay of Islands Coastal Park, originally reserved for public purposes in 1873, plus the hinterland of the park, mainly private land, extending inland to a distance which protects landscape character as seen in views from the coastal park. The citation includes the park outlier at Lake Gillear and its viewshed.

The Nirranda Coast is significant at a State level for aesthetic, archaeological, cultural, and scientific (geological and geomorphological) reasons. It is significant at a Regional level for flora and fauna and for educational purposes.

The Nirranda Coast is of State significance for its aesthetic values: the area features some of the most scenic coastal cliffs in Victoria and is one of the few places along the Victorian coast with wide open views across farmland adjacent to the coast but not separated from it by a major road (Plate 1).
As a result of very limited road and housing construction in the area, aboriginal sites of archaeological and anthropological sites of significance at a State level are seen in a context of a wide, open and empty landscape. Although the vegetation other than in the Bay of Islands Coastal Park section has been extensively modified, the site has an ambience and sound environment (dominated by bird and sea noise) similar to that which prevailed at the time of aboriginal occupation.
The area is of State significance for its association with early historical events, notably the occurrence of maritime disasters on the coast, giving rise to its name, "the Shipwreck Coast".

The geology and geomorphology are of State significance for the features associated with evolution of limestone landscapes and coastal processes (Plate 2).
The flora and fauna are significant at Regional level. The area is the habitat for several species listed in the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act. It is also is important for the variety of bird and plant species recorded in the area, including several regarded as endangered or vulnerable, and for the bat population.
The area classified has educational value at the Regional level because in the absence of protective infrastructure it illustrates the ways in which natural processes influence the form and development of coastal cliffs and dunes, and the limestone rocks inland.