The plans for boardwalks through land Council does not own or manage, (NPWS land) involved 2km of paths/ boardwalks along the river edge basically from near Orana bridge, past the Ocean Shores shops, and on through the nature reserves to the M1 bridge and on to Bruns.
The plans had little to do with making life easy for residents of hilly Ocean Shores.
The plans had a lot more to do with creating a flat cycle path for a rail trail offshoot expressway from Billinudgel through our quiet northern shire villages to Bruns. Naturally some Ocean Shores businesses saw financial advantage with this possible flood of rail trail users.
Little thought was ever given to who would pay the millions required to assess and build and maintain such a venture (on land Council doesn’t even manage).
It was never likely to even get past the assessment stage, given the extremely high environmental value, but would have still cost hundreds of thousands of wasted dollars. Councillors made a wise, informed decision that reflects the values of the natural environment over the wishes of those proponents with little environmental knowledge. Well done councillors.
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. 
