THE Tea Gardens Hawks Nest community has voiced its concerns about the proposed foreshore redesign.
High on its list of concerns are the future of a group of coral trees and traffic issues.
A large crowd filled the Tea Gardens Baptist Church on August 30, to attend a public meeting called by Great Lakes Council.
The meeting aimed to discuss the proposed redesign of Marine Dve, the foreshore and car parking arrangement between Hough St and the fire station.
The aim of the proposed design is to offer a more systematic approach to car parking, allocation of a foreshore cycleway and appropriate loading zones for commercial interests along Marine Dve.
Council called the meeting following some community concern about the redesign.
Mayor of Great Lakes Council, Cr John Chadban, chaired the meeting and said it was great to see so many people in attendance.
"We didn't come here with a pre conceived plan or idea. The idea of the public meeting is to obtain the community's ideas on the proposed plan for the Marine Drive foreshore," Cr Chadban said.
The 82 submissions included:
* 50 - local residents
* 32 - outside areas
* 37 - personal submissions
* 45 - petition style
* 26 out of the 32 from outside the area were petition style.
"At the meeting I was given another 72 submissions supporting the changes indicated for the foreshore, however they were essentially from absentee landowners," he said.
"The 37 personal submissions are the ones we'd be looking at in order to form a variety of views and opinions," he explained.
The fate of the coral trees lining the waterfront were discussed in detail at the public meeting.
Cr Chadban said that although he understood they did create shade and ambience, which is very important along the waterfront, he explained that the trees were getting older, making them more likely to drop branches.
Great Lakes Council's manager of parks and reserves, David Bortfeld, said that as a species, most council's were trying to remove coral trees grown in public spaces.
"The coral trees have a limited life span and according to experts there may be a public risk involved," Mr Bortfeld said.
When asked by audience member Gail Morphett of Hawks Nest if there had been any recorded accidents due to branch dropping of the coral trees in question, Mr Bortfeld answered, "I do not know of any specific incident that has occurred because of those coral trees."
Local horticulturalist, Christian Patteson, said due to northeast winds and poor soil, the growth of the trees along the waterfront had been reduced, making the trees tougher.
"Therefore the branch dropping excuse can't be used in this case," he said.
Mr Bortfeld assured the audience that the coral trees didn't have to be removed immediately, and that the plan was purely presented for discussion.
"However these trees were always going to be an issue and may become a potential liability in the future," he said.
Mr Bortfeld added that although a lot of submissions said 'no' to removing the coral trees, others said ‘yes', as long as they were replaced.
Along with coral trees, traffic issues were also highlighted as a community concern at the public meeting.
Great Lakes Council's director of engineering, Ron Hartley, said that Marine Dve needed a traffic-calming device, and he was happy to listen to suggestions.
An allocation of $200,000 from council's budget will be used for 60 car parks and other improvements to take pressure off Marine Dve.
Owner of the Tea Gardens Hotel, Lee Anderson, believes it would be detrimental if they lost parking along Marine Dve.
"We are the social hub of the town and we also provide a meeting room for many community groups," she said.
There is a proposal for a loading zone in front of the Tea Gardens Hotel and a proposal opposite the hotel for a bus stop.
Ms Anderson believes if these changes were to happen, hotel guests and employees would be left with about four car parks.
"Not only do we employ 30 residents in town, but where will our elderly customers park?
"We really need to put in more car parking space and not less," she added.
Dennis, the local bus driver, is concerned about the narrow sections near the Oyster Hut on Marine Dve.
"If nothing is done there will eventually be an accident.
"Coming along Myall Street instead of Marine Dve would definitely suit the bus company.
"I know I wouldn't mind walking to a bus stop to save people's lives," he said.
Speaking afterwards, Cr Chadban said it seemed to be the desire of those at the public meeting to:
* Keep the coral trees
* Extend the footpath
* Look at making Marine Dve one-way
* Investigate car parking
* Investigate buses and heavy vehicles going along Myall St instead of Marine Dve
"We are now in a position to take the above points into consideration before we prepare a further draft plan," he said.
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