DEAR News Of The Area,

30 years ago the hard fought battle to protect the picturesque Look At Me Now Headland and outstanding adjacent marine environment from an ocean outfall led to a broader recognition of the outstanding values of the unique Coffs Harbour coastline.

Linking the mountain forests and the marine environment the long and narrow coastal strip was in need of recognition and protection.

No other equivalent area of land on the North Coast contains so many diverse and threatened ecosystems – 22 at last count – from coastal rainforests, remnant tall eucalypt forests and wetlands to headland vegetation, not to mention migratory species.

The significance of the coastal strip to the Gumbaynggirr Nation is clearly immense.

At the same time this strip is under heavy demand for public access and use.

As well as defeating the outfall, two community initiatives emerged from Look At Me Now, both aimed at improving protection for the full length of the special Coffs coastal landscape.

The first was strong advocacy for the building of the Solitary Islands Coastal Walk – a proposal for a coastal walking track increasing access to and protection of the sensitive Coffs Coast environments.

It was completed some time ago, is widely used and is providing increased access and protection, especially for sensitive headland environments.

The second initiative was the proposal to incorporate all the coastal public land into a single regional park to provide improved recognition, protection and management of this special coastline.

This initiative was achieved in part when the section of coastline from Corindi to Macauleys Headland was incorporated in the Coffs Coast Regional Park in 2003.

During closed door negotiations at the time the Lands Department, despite a clear directive from Government, resisted the inclusion of public lands from Macauleys headland to Sawtell in the proposed regional park.

The Lands Department offered as an alternative the baseless title of state park for the excluded strip.

Having no legal status and being a flawed response to the requirements of our special coastline the supposed ‘state park’ has left our southern coastline exposed.

The exposure includes repeated, though so far failed, coastal development proposals by a cortege of Sydney centred bureaucrats seeking to drape their cloaks in front of governments ever hungry for another bout of overdevelopment on our coast.

The current incarnation includes a beachfront of multi-story private coastal penthouses along the Jetty Beach.

Here, the connectivity of the environment of our special coastal strip is most vulnerable and the claims for retaining public access and use are strongest.

It is time to complete the job and extend the Coffs Coast Regional Park from Macauleys Headland to Sawtell to recognise and protect our magic coastline and to stop forever the repeated threats of inappropriate coastal development.

Regards,

Ashley LOVE,

Coffs Harbour.