Evans Head’s Airforce Beach will see and extension to its off-leash dog walking zone by 230m to the south, towards Main Beach, lengthening the total dog walking area from 1.45km to 1.68km.
The decision was made at Tuesdays Richmond Valley Council meeting.
The extended off-leash zone now includes a 380m area where 4WD vehicles are not permitted on the beach.
Richmond Valley Council General Manager Vaughan Macdonald said Council had received feedback from residents to see this area extended during public consultation over the future of off-leash zones in Evans Head.
He said this solution was an alternative to fencing the second off-leash area in Evans Head, situated within Coast Guard Park near the Fishermen’s Co-op.
‘Council consulted extensively with the Evans Head community about the option of fencing the off-leash area within Coast Guard Park,’ Mr Macdonald said.
‘An alternative option was also put forward to move the off-leash area to Paddon Park, and install fencing there.
‘However, there was no clear consensus over a preferred option, with some strong submissions against fencing either area, six submissions for the current area to stay as is, and eight submissions for Paddon Park to be the area of choice.’
Council will also install a pet-friendly water fountain at the Currajong Street entrance to Airforce Beach, and additional signage and doggie bags at the informal beach entrance just south of the intersection of Cudgerie and Beech streets.
Mr Macdonald said some residents had also expressed a desire to see an extension to the area of the Airforce Beach dog walking area where vehicles were prohibited.
‘It’s understandable that dog walking enthusiasts would like to have a longer area to exercise their dogs away from vehicles,’ he said.
‘As Council had allocated $25,000 for the fencing project, this money will be reallocated into upgrading dog walking amenities at the Airforce Beach entrances and the delivery of other relevant infrastructure.’
While Council is extending the dog walking area bringing it further to the south and closer to the main surfing beach, not a good idea, it is not taking action to put in place further control over 4WDs, the reason for further extension for the dogs. Vehicles and dogs and people are not compatible.
Fundamentally Council is admitting by its actions that vehicles are a problem on the beach yet it continues to sit on its hands and do nothing.
The Evans Head section of the Ballina to Evans Head Beach will continue to be trashed while Ballina Council has the foresight to do something about this serious problem.
As more beaches are closed on the North Coast and the new highway continues to open up, guess which unregulated beach will attract 4WDs? No need to go to Pitt Street in Sydney, you’ll be able to see it out of Evans Head!
The beach was much better when it was closed because of the wretched virus.
Time for vehicles to be kept off the Beach to protect what’s left of this precious resource.