Cr Duncan Dey, Main Arm
The recent exchange of letters about the foreshore of The Terrace caravan park misses the main point. The van sites that sit on the bank of Simpsons Creek are there because the managers of the park have them there, not by the tenants’ choice.
The issue was addressed by Council this year but the arm of state government (North Coast Accommodation Trust or NCAT), which holds administration of the parks in Brunswick, would not take heed. NCAT will only deal with the mayor, deputy and GM. Even so, they have been asked to prepare Plans of Management (PoMs) that liberate the foreshore while looking after the permanent residents (by giving them equivalent sites in the same parks). The request for PoMs was made on May 9 with six months to get them drafted. If anyone has angst about the foreshore, you could direct it towards NCAT and ask them how the PoMs are shaping up. Such plans require community consultation before November 9. Nothing would suit NCAT more than a community at war with itself. What will move the vans is a united voice.
I’ve spoken with many of the occupants and haven’t met a nicer bunch of people. The message ‘move the vans and re-house the tenants’ needs to go to NCAT (if you can find them). And NCAT needs to be well into drafting the PoMs already – only four months left.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
