Safety Beach, Victoria

Safety Beach is a seaside suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 56 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Safety Beach recorded a population of 6,328 at the 2021 census.

Safety Beach occupies slightly less than half the area of land between the foothills of Mount Martha and Arthurs Seat and borders Port Philip Bay to its west.

Martha Cove is a large inland harbour and residential development in Safety Beach. It was named after its location in the cove at the foot of Mount Martha. The project, which began in 2004, was initially heavily protested by residents. After experiencing considerable financial difficulties, Martha Cove recovered and became a thriving residential community. Golfers play at the course of the Mount Martha Valley Golf Club on Country Club Drive, or at the Safety Beach Golf Course nearby.

Previously, an abattoir existed nearby to slaughter local farm animals for their meat. Blood and offal from early abattoir operations were dumped into the Sheepwash and Dunns Creeks, and carried by these creeks into Dromana Bay at Safety Beach.

Consequently, when lots of sharks were attracted here, people joked and called Safety Beach “Shark Bay” for some years. Eventually the abattoir’s operations were properly cleaned up by Health Department regulations, and Safety Beach never had its name changed from the original one ‘Safety Beach’ given by John Aitken in 1836.

Beach activities
The area has a calm, sandy bay and a swimming beach which is popular for boating. The foreshore reserve has an attractive children's playground and BBQ areas with shading. Safety Beach Sailing Club was established in 1967. Safety Beach Sailing Club has hosted many State and National titles and SBSC sailors are recognised by the sailing community for their excellence in sailing with success at regattas and at State, National and International level.

History
Many believe Safety Beach to originally have been named 'Shark Bay', but no official maps have this name. The area of port Phillip bay is called Dromana Bay and the first domestic subdivision around 1912 was called Dromana estate and was the blocks of land off Marine Drive and Dromana Parade from Pt Nepean road to around Dunns creek. Safety Beach gets its name from a journal entry of a trading vessel that run aground in storm and they were able to off load the livestock safely. In 1841, Hugh Jamieson purchased 5120 acre, or eight square miles, of land from the Crown for £1 an acre under the terms of the short-lived Special Survey regulations.

The purchase included all of the present suburb of Safety Beach. The area is known as Jamieson's Special Survey in cadastral surveys. The survey extended east as far as Bulldog Creek Rd. Henry Dunn had leased the Survey from 1846 until 1851 and was succeeded by tenants such as the Griffith, Eaton, Peatey, McLear, Clydesdale, Wilson, Cottier and Gibson families, which were involved with the History of Dromana. Edward Louis Tassell leased the northern 1000 acre for some time near the creek that is named after him.

Big Clarke later owned the survey, and sold the northern 1000 or so acres to John Vans Agnew Bruce. Maria Stenniken, who married Godfrey Burdett Wilson, used to work at Bruce's house as a servant during the summer. At the eastern end of the Survey, many of the pioneers worked at goldmining for Bernard Eaton. (Sources: A Dreamtime of Dromana, Lime Land Leisure, Rate records, 1888 Post office directory.)

Safety Beach Post Office opened on 1 October 1953 and closed in 1974.

Notable people

 * George Calombaris