Thirty years ago it may have offered a village lifestyle, but today Tura Beach is a thriving, pulsating, hive of activity. The clientele has moved on from living in “God’s Waiting Room” to a new, vibrant influx of young families. If the NSW Department of Planning and Environment still thinks Tura Beach is a quiet little village it must be living in La La Land.

Over 100 children from here now attend schools in Merimbula, Eden or Pambula. At the rate these numbers are increasing the council may need to rezone another area to build a new school!

Get with the times – rezone the area to include new businesses – in particular a Bunnings, which will benefit local residents and nearby towns rather than servicing the “major regional centre of Bega”.

Much has been said in the press and elsewhere about Bega Valley Shire Council’s reconsideration of the modest grant to help support the upgrade of the moribund irrigation system at the Pambula Merimbula Golf Club (PMGC). Regrettably, some contributors to the debate have referred to PMGC as a ‘private golf club’ - this is manifestly incorrect.

PMGC is a community-owned, not-for-profit organisation that contributes almost $4million annually to the local economy. The club is a major tourist drawcard and open to all member of the community and visitors alike. 

PMGC is enormously proud of its 50 year record of community support and the 30 year long mutually beneficial, treated effluent irrigation partnership with the council. We are not the only BVSC irrigation partner, but we are by far the biggest, consuming 20% of the total output of the treatment plant, or some 150 million litres of treated effluent annually. The irrigation partnership decreases the amount of treated effluent discharged to the environment, at times via ocean outfall, and so delivers significant environmental and economic benefits to the community at large.

We welcome constructive debate on this issue and trust the community will see beyond the rhetoric and appreciate the many benefits local community-based sporting organisations bring to this region. We are fortunate to live in such a splendid and pristine seaside environment. Let us not forget the complex infrastructure and partnership arrangements that keep it that way.

In response to Val Platt’s letter (MNW, 8/2), I too attended the public meeting at Tura Beach Library on January 30. At this meeting, a group of well-meaning residents in the North Tura Beach area put forward a proposal to gather community support in restoring the public access to the beach.

The purpose of the residents who initiated this meeting is not to improve the natural beach, but simply to restore and maintain access to this beautiful place for all to enjoy.

Regardless of whether you use the actual beach or not, the idea of the group was to enable a clean-up of the area leading to the viewing platforms that allow people to look out to beautiful Bournda Island and national park. 

I for one, am thankful this group of concerned residents has taken some action in forming a proposal to be put to council.  The path to the beach from The Point side is overgrown with feral plants and vermin, while the access to the beach from the Dolphin Cove side is almost inaccessible.

A clean-up of the area is well overdue and the meeting was arranged for community members to offer support. The few people at the meeting that opposed this initiative were simply not listening.