While the Merimbula Boardwalk is billed as one of the area’s top attractions for both visitors and locals, its state of disrepair has led to questions about its safety.
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Matthew Scott and his family have come to Merimbula each year for their annual holiday for the past decade and he was shocked when he visited the boardwalk.
“There was a missing board, the grass was a metre high along the path in some places, making it perfect for snakes to nest in. The areas that are gravel required more gravel as the exposed tree roots provided a trip hazard and made it very difficult to negotiate my son’s wheelchair,” Mr Scott said.
“While I was there an elderly fellow on a scooter was having a lot of issues travelling along the path as well. When I saw him struggling I thought someone’s got to say something,” he said.
To make matters worse the family came across a black snake lying within centimetres of the path as they made their way along.
“I hate to think what might’ve happened if I hadn’t been there and one of my kids had accidently stepped on the snake.
“I appreciated the snake warning sign but find it unacceptable to have long grass up to a metre on both sides of the path in sections. It would be easy to get a mower or a whipper snipper in and tidy it up,” he said.
“Since we first started coming here I have noticed a gradual decline (in the boardwalk). The whole experience has left a sour taste in my mouth. I think that the council need to start putting the tourist dollars back into maintaining the infrastructure that’s here.”
- Matthew Scott
Mr Scott wrote a brief letter to the local council outlining his concerns. In response a spokesperson said that maintenance and repairs would be done as funding permitted. The spokesperson said that the grass cutting had been delayed due to weather conditions.
“That’s fair enough but the grass has been that long for the past five years so you can’t use a weekend or two of bad weather as an excuse for not doing anything about that,” he said.
While the council is liable for public safety on the boardwalk there are no plans in the future to erect a sign warning of snakes during the summer period. At the moment there is a homemade sign erected by concerned residents.
The missing plank has been replaced.
“Since we first started coming here I have noticed a gradual decline (in the boardwalk). The whole experience has left a sour taste in my mouth. I think that the council need to start putting the tourist dollars back into maintaining the infrastructure that’s here,” Mr Scott said.
