A PROPOSED ''gay-proof fence'' designed to stop lewd behaviour on the foreshore of a popular nudist beach has divided residents on the Mornington Peninsula, and infuriated equal opportunity groups.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal will decide if prominent businessman Charles Jacobsen can build a 400-metre fence that would separate Moondah Beach from a public foreshore reserve in Mount Eliza. The reserve sits in front of Mr Jacobsen's 11-hectare private estate and next to Sunnyside North - one of four ''clothing optional'' beaches in Melbourne.

Mornington Peninsula councillor Leigh Eustace, sporting a "giveaway" backpack, at the site of a proposed fence designed to stop lewd behaviour at a popular nudist beach. Credit:Craig Sillitoe

At a development meeting with Mornington Peninsula Shire Council in February, Mr Jacobsen raised hackles when he said the area had become a notorious pick-up spot for homosexuals, who created ''love nests'' among foreshore vegetation.

Mayor Graham Pittock said the campaign to build a 1.8-metre boundary fence within metres of the high-tide mark was explicitly targeted at homosexuals and violated Victoria's human rights charter.