Heritage Pines

The stand of about 250 pine trees (PINUS RADIATA) on the foreshore at Shoreham (The Pines) is a representative surviving example of pine trees marking a beach resort. They are a representative marker in an imposed landscape following European settlement and signify the recreational use of Shoreham as a beach resort from the 1920s although some of the trees probably date from earlier than 1920.

Pine trees were a classic seaside planting to provide windbreaks and protection for habitations behind the foreshore. Many such pine plantings around Port Phillip Bay and Western Port Bay have been or are being replaced. The landscape of which the pines constitute an important element, is of outstanding aesthetic significance. The Pines are a very impressive stand of trees, and are unique as the best example in Victoria of a stand of pines on a foreshore reserve.

Other similar plantings exist or have existed at other beach resorts. There were similar stands of pines at the foreshore reserves at Somers, Balnarring and Merricks but these are no longer intact. They have been partially removed over the past ten years.