THE Friends Of South Solitary Island Lighthouse (FOSSIL) held their annual general meeting on Saturday 19 March, and were very happy to hear news from re-elected President Chris Bramley regarding the South Solitary Island lighthouse optic (light system).

The optic has been housed in what is now the Coffs Harbour Table Tennis Club facility in Harbour Drive for approximately 46 years.

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Mr Bramley told the gathering, “The optic will be coming out of the closet and will be relocated to the Jetty foreshore and will be integral to the redevelopment of the T.S Vendetta site.”

He also informed FOSSIL members that the Council has a current project to clean and prepare the optic for relocation, which is anticipated to begin in August and be finished in November this year.

The group intends to hold a series of public events to coincide with the relocation and are exploring the possibility of the public screening a movie from the Australian Archives titled ‘Forgive Us Our Trespass’ that was filmed on the island in 1960.

The new placement of the optic will allow visitors to see how the complex system worked, and it is hoped that there will be historic information available to inform people of the history and significance of the lighthouse.

FOSSIL has been involved in assisting the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in maintaining and restoring the remaining lighthouse facilities on South Solitary Island, although pandemic restrictions ruled out visitors to the island for the past two years.

Access to the island is restricted and Coffs Harbour’s Precision Helicopters have run tours of the island in the past and are restarting these operations on the first weekend of each month from May to August commencing on May 7.

For more information on FOSSIL go to www.facebook.com/groups/1655820784705694.

Details of Precision Helicopter tours are available at https://precisionhelicopters.com.au/south-solitary-island.

By David TUNE