Shed at Crescent Head Holiday Park to be moved following community push back

At Kempsey Shire Council's Ordinary Meeting on Tuesday, September 19, council resolved to relocate the shed adjacent to its current site.

The move is expected to be achievable in a single crane movement, however the relocation will cost council approximately $55,000.

The decision to move the shed from its current spot on Crescent Head's foreshore follows a meeting held on Thursday, August 24.

Councillors, staff and representatives of the Crescent Head Ratepayers and Residents Association (CHRARA), Crescent Head Country Club and Australian Tourist Park Managers (ATPM) met on site to discuss alternative options after numerous public forums and resident rallies.

Council staff opened the meeting by acknowledging council's mistakes with the project and confirmed commitment to finding a resolution that met community expectations and council's operational and financial objectives.

The meeting considered the access location of the shed, the reinstatement of the public footpath through the park, and the use of the new slab after the shed has been relocated.

CHRARA members preference was to move the shed further south to better remove the shed from view, however council resolved to relocate the shed to site 102 to save costs with the relocation only needing a single crane movement one spot over rather than two.

Council says their proposed location also minimises the impact on surrounding trees and vegetation and sacrifices smaller and less desirable camping sites.

Council believes the new location of the shed will reduce the visual impact by tucking the shed in behind significant tree cover and will not disrupt the view of the ocean; a community concern of its current location.

Kempsey Shire Council General Manager Craig Milburn acknowledges council "made a mistake" and says it appreciates the community's input into the issue, and believes the new location is a "good compromise".

The current slab will be left in place with the relocation of the shed.

While the exact future use of the slab may evolve over time, in the short term, council says the slab will be used to house the Holiday Park bins.

Council have also confirmed their commitment to reinstating the footpath, which residents insisted needed to be disability friendly and ensure safe and uncongested transition to the roadside footpath.

Council has redesigned the alignment of the footpath, taking the path further to the east to allow a flatter, disability compliant pathway, and further separation from the existing slab which may be required to accommodate safe garbage truck movements.

Approximately $25,000 will be spent on the footpath redesign and landscaping surround the slab and shed to allow them to "sit better in the environment", according to Mr Milburn.

$10,000 has already been spent on the necessary Review of Environmental Factors (REF), which has been approved giving the project the go-ahead.

President Crescent Head Ratepayers Association, Fred Andrew, says he is relieved a decision has finally been made, and while the association would have preferred their proposed alternative location over council's proposed site, the new location is "far better" than its current position.

"The first location was a complete disaster," said Mr Andrew.

Crescent Head resident and representative of CHRARA, Ken Scotton, who lead the community rallies regarding the shed, along with Mr Andrews, believes that council should have proceeded with the REF after yesterday's meeting rather than beforehand as the $10,000 already spent may have swayed councillors' vote.

"I'm happy the shed has been moved but I'm disappointed with the way the council meeting proceeded," said Mr Scotton.

"We move on, the decision [has] been made now...the next thing I think which is a far bigger item is the Special Rates Variation which is going to be an extremely difficult discussion."

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