Surfers in wrangle with Council over bench move Coffs Coast Coffs Coast - popup ad Coffs Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - September 15, 2024 The Council picnic table relocated by the surfers at Boambee Headland alongside the bench made in memory of Ron Schneider. A COMMUNITY of surfers in Sawtell has staged a “sit-in” after Council stopped them relocating a picnic table from the top of Boambee Headland to a nearby site with special meaning. Their preferred location is 200 metres away on the edge of the footpath from Boambee Creek to Sawtell Beach. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au It is where a plaque commemorates Ron Schneider, 54, who died in 2015 while surfing in Indonesia. “For years, Ron was here every morning at dawn to surf while the sun came up,” a local surfer told News Of The Area. On Sunday, 25 August, around 50 surfers, friends, sons and a granddaughter gathered by the plaque to pay homage to Ron. It was their ninth gathering. A friend had handcrafted a bench and installed it near the moved picnic table for Ron’s wife to use “when she comes out here to sit in this space that meant so much to [him]”. But the day after the gathering, Council contractors arrived with an excavator, traversing the north side of Boambee Headland to remove both the picnic table and bench. The surfers rallied to stage a “sit-in” on the table, to no avail. They did not have Council’s permission to relocate the picnic table and install a bench of their own, so both pieces were removed and taken away. “We didn’t ask because we knew Council would say no,” one member said. A Council spokesperson told NOTA, “The City of Coffs Harbour reinstated a community picnic setting after it was unbolted without authorisation, moved to a clifftop, and concreted to the bedrock. “The unauthorised repositioning of the table setting – and the laying of some 20 square metres of mulch and gravel at the cliff site – led to environmental damage in an Endangered Ecological Community of Themeda grassland.” The surfers say the community wasn’t consulted when the picnic table was installed a couple of years ago on the site of the demolished water tank, with panoramic views of the car park. “We were accused of damaging the native flora, with no admission of the extensive destruction the excavator caused,” another local surfer said. “There were four council personnel including an ‘enforcement’ officer with a bodycam, two trucks and a trailer. “We were not confrontational – just wanted our opinions known.” Coffs Harbour Regional Landcare president Barry Powell told NOTA, “I am always pleased to see an increasing presence of not only members of the surfing fraternity but also many others, both from the local area and visitors alike, all of whom respect the headland and its wonderful vegetation and coastal views. “This headland is slowly recovering from the serious hailstorm of October 2021, and I felt that clearing some vegetation and moving the seat was not in the spirit of looking after this wonderful natural asset for everyone to enjoy. “But I also hope that a satisfactory solution can be achieved.” Ron Schneider was a respected member of the Sawtell and Coffs Coast community. The City has a Reserve Naming and Memorial Policy. Requests for monuments and plaques require application to the City and may require a Council resolution. There are three remaining picnic tables on the top of Boambee Headland at the carpark side, with views over the ocean and Boambee Creek. By Andrea FERRARI Contractors remove the picnic table from its unauthorised position. Marking the site where Ron got ready to surf every morning at dawn. The surfers removed the table from its authorised site on Boambee headland adjacent to the water tank and carpark.
