By BELINDA PARKES
A HALF-basketball court and new play equipment are to be built in Kingscliff’s Faulks Park.
The old toilet block will be replaced and new shelters, play equipment, walkways and barbecues installed as part of the $377,000 landscaping upgrade.
Tweed Shire Council exhibited a draft of the plan in October and has taken on board a couple of suggestions for the Marine Parade park, however a new beach access, extra pathways and additional park lighting will have to be done once further funding becomes available.
Tweed councillor Katie Milne expressed concern about the impact of erosion on the newly-landscaped area and sought to hold off spending the money on the works until councillors had looked at it more thoroughly at a workshop.
But she, along with supporting councillors Gary Bagnall and Michael Armstrong, were voted down after Cr Warren urged his fellow councillors to just get on with the job.
Cr Polglase said the sand was now 150 metres back from the wall and the community had supported the project and was sick of council constantly delaying projects while they workshopped them.
“It is not putting us in a good light at all,” said Cr Polglase.
Council’s engineering and operations director Patrick Knight acknowledged the erosion wall was only a stop-gap measure rather than a long-term solution but said the staff in his department felt it was better to make good use of the area while it was still in existence.
“The community wants the park and uses it a lot,” Mr Knight said.
“We believe it is appropriate to do the work to get the best use out of it.
“It may get attacked (by erosion) again but we believe for the time being this is the best use of the area.”
Councillors voted 5-2 to endorse the concept plan for the park with works to begin as soon as the approval and tender process are complete. Only Crs Milne and Bagnall voted against it.
