Member for The Entrance, David Mehan, said he was delighted to see the Coast Walking Track extended all the way from Crackneck Lookout to Shelly Beach, thanks to the Bateau Bay community and some wrangling by local Judy Townsend.
Mehan attended a community celebration with Federal Member for Dobell, Emma McBride, and donated plants, sourced from the Community Environment Network’s plant nursery, to replace weeds removed during the community working bee.
Community interest in extending the Coast Track grew following a recent upgrade to the track section which runs through Wyrrabalong National Park.
The National Park ends at Helen St after which Coast Track walkers were forced to walk along Bateau Bay Rd if they wanted to continue to Shelly Beach.
The situation was also a serious safety issue with walkers dodging traffic and parked cars lining the clifftop reserve along Bateau Bay Rd.
Judy Townsend co-ordinated a community response which led to a call for weeds to be cleared from the clifftop reserve to allow the Coast Track to be connected via an informal path to Shelly Beach.
Mehan said that requests to Central Coast Council, who manage the clifftop reserve outside the National Park under the Crown Lands Act, met with a lukewarm response and no clear undertakings to fix the issue.
“So, the community did the work itself,” he said.
“I’m pleased to see the track upgrade proceed as a community project and I look forward to working with my community to maintain this area as it deserves to be.
“Wyrrabalong National Park started as a community idea in the 1980s and I’m delighted that spirit is still alive today in Bateau Bay,” Mehan said.
Source:
The Entrance MP, David Mehan