Steve Shearer, Lennox Head.
Even the most vivid imagination would be hard pressed to conjure a bigger public policy train wreck than the two aborted eco shark nets that ended up as plastic strewn on the beach and concrete blocks buried in the surf zone.
But no, Ballina Shire seems to have found a bigger fiasco on which to hang its hat. I refer of course to the proposed Lennox Ski Jump, a ‘tower of terror’ that punctuates the heathland skyline north of the lake like some Gold Coast theme park wet dream.
You know a business case is weak when the Queensland state government rejects it out of hand as being one of the worst ideas they have ever seen. What beggars belief is that this farce was – or is – even being seriously considered by our local elected representatives.
Not only does it violate local planning laws, the spectacular visual amenity so beloved by both locals and visitors alike, it offends every tenet of common sense you could think of.
To threaten the long term economic viability of our tourism base – people come and stay here to get away from Gold Coast style development – reduce the quality of life for locals for the dubious benefit of 20 or 30 people, with a business case already analysed and soundly rejected has to take a gold medal for the worst idea seen in this shire for decades.
I urge Ballina councillors to take this terrible farce of an idea down to the back paddock and put it out of its deserved misery.
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. 
