Mr Arnold and a small group of locals met with a council member and a representative from The Rotary Club of Pambula at The Broken Oar on Wednesday, October 11.

“We went through the beginnings of the idea and received a supportive response from the council representative,” Mr Arnold said.

“He did open the community’s eyes to the challenges we might face in terms of the facility becoming a reality.”

Six sites have been located and audited, of which two stand out above the rest.

The audit covers a number of key factors including ease of emergency service locating and accessibility, current land usage and maintenance requirements with respect to an alternative use of the land.

“We were told that having conducted an audit was a great start,” Mr Arnold said.

“Getting confirmation from council or Parks NSW or both about the potential long-term aspect of those bits of land would be beneficial.

“We’ll definitely be making more contact with Rotary and hopefully with the Pambula Chamber of Commerce.”

Feedback suggested Mr Arnold seek to create a club to help the idea prosper.

“We’ll start circulating that information during the week. It would be a trial club initially, with the main activity being digging. Digging is why we’re here in the first place,” Mr Arnold said.

“The kids have initially received the attention for what they’ve dug up, so we want to preserve the ability for these kids to dig.

“​I’ll also speak to the Tathra Mountain Bike Club and discuss with them about the potential expansion of their club to include areas outside of their club.”

Mr Arnold will also meet with a Parks NSW representative this week.

“This is only the beginning of the conversations. There’s definitely more  to come.”