Letter to the Editor: Jetty has been transformed by volunteers

DEAR News Of The Area,

AFTER more than 25 years as a Landcare volunteer and 15 years as a professional Bush Regeneration Contractor along the Coffs Coast, including the Jetty Foreshore, I feel compelled to put the record straight in response to Bob Cameron’s letter from 11/7/25 titled “Vegetation Intrusion”

The North Bank Planting project will not block views as all the species being planted are low growing.

This grassroots community initiative will not only beautify this area but will save valuable resources over time.

Far from being usable recreational space this area had been unmanaged and unsightly for many years.

The expense and danger of contiguously mowing such a steep slope resulted in it being left allowing a wide variety of environmental weeds to establish.

This was compromising all of the surrounding natural areas which have been restored and cared for by Jetty Dunecare volunteers for over 40 years.

The area is now being transformed into a low maintenance, self-sustaining natural area showcasing a range of the region’s well adapted low growing coastal flora.

I would invite anyone who would care to inspect this site to see this for themselves.

Do you think the Jetty Foreshore would be such a popular place if it was still ‘denuded’, as it once was, allowing wind-blown sand to stop trains as it once did, and the public amenities to be inundated during high tides and storm surges as I’ve been told it used to, by others who grew up here.

I have only been living in this area since the mid-’80s so was not around when the Army was brought in to plant trees and build a fence to protect the coastline after it had been cleared and used as a place for planes to land back in the early days.

Since then, the dunes along our foreshore have been effectively restored by decades of unceasing volunteer efforts.

Rather than planting, the Dunecare Volunteers have used a system known as Natural Assisted Regeneration where weeds are removed systematically and natural balance allowed to re-establish.

Functional, well balanced dunal systems can quickly recover, even after serious erosion events.

The various species have all adapted to this ecosystem, each species having its own way of trapping the sand and rebuilding the dunes at no cost to anyone.

I can understand why the early European settlers felt the need to do battle with natural vegetation, especially in an area where growth is so diverse and abundant like here.

It must’ve been overwhelming for them.

But we now know better and can see in real time the ongoing damage from extreme weather events on poorly managed coastlines from the ill-informed decision making of the past.

I would invite Bob Cameron and anyone else interested to come visit the Jetty Dunecare Group on almost any Tuesday or Saturday from 7:30 am, for a free tour of the area we care for and take pride in (bookings essential). Then perhaps the community at large could have a better understanding of the critical importance and value of these special places, and why we all need to protect and care for them into the future for the generations to come.

Together in restoration,
Lindy DAVIS,
Coffs Harbour.