Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron has since 2008 been pushing for an extended foreshore walkway and a 120-berth marina at its existing site between Ricketts Point and Mentone Beach.

The project would include construction of a rock breakwater wall, extension of an outfall drain to deep water, a new waterfront boardwalk, a three-lane boat ramp, almost 80 boat stacks and a new club house and function facility.

After years of setbacks, the yacht squadron has now been given the green light to take part in an environmental review of the proejct run by the planning department, as a first step in getting the marina built.

The squadron's Commodore Brian McNaughton said the development would have many benefits, including the new walkways and boat stacks. "We're doing a lot of things that are outside what people expect us to do," he said. "We're not just down there to fish; there is going to be a lot of public use in it that will extend the enjoyment of the long-serving members there as well."

And Mr McNaughton said the expansion would also have environmental benefits, with the proposed rock walls to protect the Beaumaris cliffs from wave erosion.

Conservation and community groups have concerns that many in the community are not aware of the development. But Mr McNaughton said the application process had been lengthy and the squadron was wary of presenting the public with incorrect information. "It's a long process. We do want to have public consultations but we do need to make sure that they happen at the right time," he said.

Sandringham Foreshore Association president Vicki Karalis is among those opposed to the plan, and said there were serious concerns the expansion would cover fossil sites the area is renowned for. "The fossils located at the Beaumaris beach are somewhere between four and 10 million years old. We are blessed in Melbourne to have a fossil site within 24 kilometres of the city."

Museum Victoria's Erich Fitzgerald said the Beaumaris area was Australia's best snapshot of sea life over the past 25 million years. "The more we learn, the more we are finding that it has the potential to teach us much more about the changes that occurred in marine life off coastal Australia between five to six million years ago," he said.

Beaumaris Conservation Society spokesman Geoffrey Goode said the construction of rock walls to create a safe harbour for the club could damage the bay.

He said many in the area believed Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron should never have been allowed to build on the site, when the squadron was formed in 1959. He said the bay near the proposed marina was "fairly untouched. ... To have 130,000 cubic metres of basalt rocks dumped in there constitutes quite an environmental impact".