It’s disappointing to see the anti-Green bikies from Ocean Shores trying to resuscitate a dead horse! Pushing our naive, new councillors into the quagmire of a bike path in our precious, fragile nature reserves during the federal election campaign. The issue also got a run during the recent Council elections.
Wedge politics at its most blatant from the same blokes who (over) reacted vehemently to any criticism of Mayor Michael Lyon and attacked train supporters viciously and relentlessly during that ugly tussle. (See FB)
The aim is to make the Greens look mean and begrudging because they won’t give people access through the nature reserves. Yet the National Parks & Wildlife Service refused the plan because it impacts on threatened species and ecological communities. Fencing was erected and paths closed to keep the public and their pets out of these reserves which are specifically designated for nature.
The Brunswick Heads community fought to protect this riverside land during the Ocean Shores subdivision in the 1960s. My dear neighbour, Ruth Fox was involved in the Flora and Fauna Association that championed the creation of the nature reserves. She must be fuming in her grave!
While a bike track sounds great, it’s a disaster for the mangroves and forest that will need to be removed to facilitate a three- to four-metre-wide boardwalk along with hundreds or possibly thousands of post holes punched into the marshy ground to support the structure. From the 1990s until 2005 the Bruns reserve was home to fruit bats all along Rajah Road. It’s a vital part of the wildlife corridor offering refuge, food, and safe passage through our neighbourhood.
Has anyone checked with the neighbours who live alongside the reserve who may not want an intrusive transport corridor in their backyard? Will there be lights at night? Who’s going to pick up the rubbish? Midges and mossies densely inhabit the area. Will the boardwalk cope with floods?
The plans from Bruns to Ocean Shores shops include access along the riverbank road to the old oyster lease which is a traditional fishing area for Indigenous folk (noted in Melissa Lucashenko’s book, ‘Mullumbimby’). A landslip dumped tonnes of soil and trees into the river during the 2022 floods and it’s finally under repair but the road remains closed. The local bridge is named Durumbil after the water rat which the hill beside the north wall resembles. It’s still a place of significance and a popular fishing spot and the locals may not want the boardwalk disturbing the area. Has anyone consulted them?
Is the need to trash our nature reserves even necessary now everyone is jumping onto electric bikes to get up the hills?
I agree we need designated bike tracks but I strongly object to bisecting these narrow strips of public land reserved for our feathered, scaly, and furry friends. Can we count on Justine (ALP) or Kimberly (Nats) to protect our sacred ground? Unlikely, but I’m 100 per cent sure we can get Mandy Nolan and Delta Kay and the Green team onside!
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. 
