Letter to the Editor: What we could have at the foreshore

DEAR News Of The Area,

AS Property and Development NSW struggles with the functional and commercial viability of its much hyped foreshore development, it is working on an ever-changing proposal out of sight of Coffs’ residents.

We are entitled to know what we will actually end up with and what the alternative could be.

Foreshore For All believes the 2008 Plan of Management for the precinct under which the present foreshore reserve, zoned for recreation, has evolved from an industrial wasteland is still relevant.

This zoning (RE1) is specifically designed to allow for all amenities associated with public recreation – cafes, restaurants, playgrounds ,information centres, cultural and exhibition facilities, sculpture parks etc.

FFA believes this zoning, maintained where we have it and extended to the fenced off “Special Purposes Infrastructure” land around the railway station still provides an appropriate planning mechanism for creating over time an enhanced, world class coastal park with all the associated amenities that this entails.

In 2008 the State Government entered into a memorandum of understanding with the City confirming this as their vision: an extension of the recreational reserve on public land as the City grew, as opposed to the present government’s “vision” of burying this land forever under dense urban development.

None of this is reinventing the wheel.

Many regional cities have an extensive central park evolved under the above arrangements.

Leases and concessions granted by council in the interests of the community enliven these spaces and provide community income.

These parks are inevitably major tourist attractions and provide a “village green” for the community.

FFA believes the Jetty Foreshore can provide this space for Coffs Harbour and is worth fighting for.

Regards,

Frank SCAHILL,

Coffs Harbour.