Eve Jeffery
The Lennox Head community are hoping that a decision to remove a Lennox Head beach pavilion can be overturned with the weight of the community behind it.
Convenor of our Heritage Committee, Robyn Hargrave, said that the building was erected in the early 1950s. ‘It was built to withstand all that nature could throw at it – now Lennox Head’s classic beach pavilion is under threat of demolition as part of Lennox Village Vision plans to update the village centre.’
Ms Hargrave said that Ballina Shire Council’s August meeting approved works to renew infrastructure, modernise and streamline the streetscape as well as foreshore parks. ‘This includes Lennox Park where the pavilion stands. According to Vision concepts, removal of the building will open up the park and provide improved views to the water from the street.
‘When the news of its pending demolition broke, social media provided an outlet for snapshots of people’s lives and the role the pavilion has played for over 70 years.
‘We would like to collect as many of those stories as possible and invite current and former residents and visitors with recollections or photos to share them with us,’ said Ms Hargrave.
At this stage there is not an active group, rather a few people working up a quiet, rolling awareness campaign. ‘We anticipate calling interested parties together in November to garner serious commitment and draw up strategies leading to the 2021 Council elections. Council tend not to take much serious notice of social media users.
‘We hope to have the matter resolved by negotiation before then and we do not wish to make this an adversarial issue as the Heritage Committee have an excellent, mutually beneficial working relationship with Ballina Shire Council.’
The stories and images will form part of that action and negotiation. ‘Of course from a heritage perspective, we hope to garner recollections and images for our collection-whether our campaign is successful or not.’
If you would like to add your stories and photos to the collection, you can email to [email protected] or drop them into the Lennox Head library addressed to the Heritage Committee. Contributors are reminded to include contact details.
