WET WALK: Vincentia residents Julie Clarke, Gina Jones, Marian Wilson, Ken Jones, Brian Saunders and Bob Clarke show why they think the Orion Beach section of the Around the Bay Walk should not be routed along the beach. They say it will be inaccessible during king tides.
ONE group was always going to be disappointed when it came to which route Shoalhaven City Council recommended for the Orion Beach section of the Around the Bay Walk.
Council’s long and short-term options for this section of the walk will see it going through the Orion Beach foreshore.
Two groups – Orion Beach Foreshore Environment Protection Community (OBC for short) and the Vincentia Residents and Ratepayers Association (VRRA) – had different preferences for the route.
OBC, for environment reasons, did not want the walk to cut into the fragile foreshore, while the VRRA saw the Orion Beach reserve section as an important missing link in the Around the Bay walk.
Council recently voted on two options, both of which displeased the OBC members.
Council’s short-term objective is to provide a direct-shared pathway of appropriate material through the Orion Beach Foreshore Reserve from Minerva Avenue to the existing beach/road access in Elizabeth Drive at the rear of the adjacent properties.
Council will, where possible, provide a buffer to these properties.
Its long-term objective is to provide a shared pathway between the high water mark and rear of remaining adjacent properties following environmental studies.
OBC members vowed to continue the fight.
In consultation with stakeholders when the final shared pathway in this location is determined, council will formulise a management plan for the foreshore.
Council will consider allocating the funding in the 2013-14 budget.