The beach is also part of Noosa National Park. Photo: Che Chapman / n20404C
Nude bathing may soon be as legal on some Coast beaches as letting your dog run off leash across the sand.
> See the latest developments in the fight for a nudist beach on the Sunshine Coast
Freebeach Australia handed a submission to the Sunshine Coast Regional Council on Tuesday to have dedicated, clothing optional beaches made available for locals and tourists.
Freebeach vice president Mark Hayter delivered the six page proposal to the council’s Nambour offices.
The organisation has proposed four sites, including part of a Mudjimba beach that is backed by wetlands, and a stretch of beach north of Stumers Creek at Coolum.
Members also nominated what they called the Coast’s unofficial nude beaches, at Third Bay at Coolum and Alexandria Bay at Noosa.
Alexandria Bay would be a last resort because of its difficult access.
Nude bathing is outlawed in Queensland under the Summary Offences Act 2005, but the government has promised to reconsider the law if a local council were to ask it to do so.
According to Freebeach, having a clothing optional beach would meet the needs of residents, increase tourism and help ensure the surf safety of nude bathers.
Mr Hayter said one beach would be enough to satisfy the group, and tourists would flock to the area to visit a nude beach if it could be established.
"There are thousands of nudists living here on the Sunshine Coast," Mr Hayter said. "We feel that while the needs of other minority groups have been accommodated, nudists have been driven out of any unofficial beaches."
The group hopes to meet with Sunshine Coast mayor Bob Abbot to discuss the proposed sites, but has been told he is unavailable for at least two months.
Meanwhile, mayor Bob Abbot has corrected claims that he would support an official nudist beach on the Sunshine Coast.
He said while he had no problem with the nudists’ cause, he would not fight any battles for them.
The comments last week were in response to a national media report implying he was all for the bid for the Sunshine Coast to become home to Queensland’s first legal nudist beach.
"I don’t have an issue with clothes optional beaches at all but I’m certainly not the champion of this cause and don’t intend to be," Mr Abbot said.
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