Sandy Beach Reserve - Community Hub and Active Youth Space

Dear 25CA. The design process has various stages, with community consultation having occurred in 2017 to develop the Sandy Beach Reserve Masterplan. Additional consultations were held last year to gather community ideas for the community hub and active youth space. Please refer to the background briefing document in the Document Library on this page.  The information post system is currently under repair.

Dear 25CA. Please accept our apologies that you haven't received a response. Unfortunately the system didn't trigger a notification when your questions were logged. I trust that the interpretive signage is working at present? You should hear the story by pushing either of the two buttons. In regards to the boom gate, as previously advised to another interested community member, the gate should be closed, but unlocked.  During a previous community consultation the inclusion of a gate to stop vehicles accessing the beach was raised. During the Vehicles on Beaches Policy planning, boat ramp access was discussed with the community.  While local fishers were OK with including a gate, they did not support it being locked. Council undertook to install a gate and new signage so that it was obvious to all that vehicles are prohibited while allowing cars with trailers access. This was to aid rangers in enforcing the signage by reducing the opportunity to drive past without seeing the signage.  

Hi 25CA. There is no money in the 2020/21 Budget for Stage 2 of the pathway. Works within the Sandy Beach Reserve are funded from the Coffs Coast Regional Park Budget, which includes grant allocations and Council allocations. Significant Council and grant funds were recently invested in completing the Shared Pathway on Diamond Head Drive. Council, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Coffs Coast Regional Park Trust Board are aware of the desire of residents to complete Stage 2 of the Reserve pathway. This will be achieved when funding is available.

Hi 25CA. Thank you for your questions. Please see below.

Question 1: The Submissions and the identity of participants is confidential. For a summary of the Consultation Outcomes, please see the Document Library on this page for the Final Report. This includes the topics raised in the submissions. More than 170 people provided feedback during the public exhibition stage. There was majority support for the concept plan and it is now approved and adopted to go to detailed design and construction.

Question 2: The Active Youth Space concept plan was developed to include the elements most favoured by the community members who took part in the public workshop held on site on March 10. The community hub area and youth elements are part of the broader Sandy Beach Reserve Masterplan 2017, which was developed through a series of workshops with the community, in addition to online consultations in 2017.

Question 3: The gate should be closed, but unlocked. A staff member is inspecting today. Thank you for advising. During a previous community consultation the inclusion of a gate to stop vehicles accessing the beach was raised. During the Vehicles on Beaches Policy planning, boat ramp access was discussed with the community.  While local fishers were OK with including a gate, they did not support it being locked. Council undertook to install a gate and new signage so that it was obvious to all that vehicles are prohibited while allowing cars with trailers access. This was to aid rangers in enforcing the signage by reducing the opportunity to drive past without seeing the signage. 

Question 4: The northern half of the pathway will be completed when funding is available. The current projects (Community Hub and Active Youth Space) have been made possible with the assistance of grants funding from the NSW Government and contributions from Council and the Regional Park. 

Hi Sharon. Thank you for your interest. The Community Hub and Active Youth Space do not include adult exercise stations as part of this design and construction project. The Masterplan does, however, include adult exercise stations located close to the Community Hub/Youth Space. This would be designed and constructed as part of works to be funded in the future.

Hi Michael. Thank you for your questions. Please see information as below:

Promotion of March 10 workshop and consultation process

The current consultation process for the Community Hub and Active Youth Space has been publicised through extensive promotions, including the following:

• One-quarter page advertisement, full colour, in Coffs Coast News of the Area newspaper, Friday February 26, 2021
• One-quarter page advertisement, full colour, in Coffs Coast News of the Area, Friday March 5
• 400 flyers promoting the event and consultations distributed to school students for parental attention, issued by the Sandy Beach Public School
• 100 flyers promoting the event and consultations provided to Woolgoolga High School for distribution to Sandy Beach students, other interested young people and parents
• 200 flyers promoting the event and consultations provided to The Sunken Chip Café and General Store at Sandy Beach
• Flyers distributed to every letterbox of residents of Sandys Beach Drive, promoting the event and consultations to the residents who live opposite the Sandy Beach Reserve
• Two x large A3 posters promoting the event and consultations placed in the Sandy Beach Reserve Community Noticeboard
• Promotion of the event and consultations via the Sandy Beach Reserve Have Your Say Page
• Invitation to the Have Your Say Project Page’s Registered Stakeholders via direct email
• Invitation via direct email to stakeholders who participated in another recent Sandy Beach playground consultation (Seacrest Avenue)
• Promotion of the event on Social Media via Council’s Facebook Page

Additional promotions included:

• Promotion of the event via Social Media on The Sandy Beach Mob Facebook page
• News article Coffs Coast News of the Area, Friday February 26, published following media announcement by the Regional Park Trust Board
• News coverage promoting the event on radio station Triple MMM.

Consultation to Develop Sandy Beach Masterplan 2017

Development of the adopted Coffs Coast Regional Park’s Sandy Beach Reserve Masterplan 2017 included the following consultation Stages:

• Initial Consultation with key stakeholders and government agencies (January 2017)
• Community Workshop: Issues & Opportunities (February 2017)
• Consultation with Sandy Beach Public School students and secondary meeting to present concepts (February 2017)
• Community Meeting: Present Preliminary Concept Plan (February 2017)
• On-line Exhibition of Draft Concept Plan (March - April 2017)
• Community Meeting: Present Revised Plan (June 2017)
• Community online Feedback (July 2017)
• Publication of Masterplan Consultation Report (September-October 2017)
• Public exhibition and consultation re draft masterplans, online survey (September-October 2017)
• Informal meetings/discussions with stakeholders (October-November 2017)
• Consideration of submissions, review and adoption of the Sandy Beach Reserve Masterplan by the Coffs Coast Regional Park Trust Board, November 8, 2017.

Consultation Process for Design of Community Hub and Active Youth Space

The consultation process in which we are now engaged involves the following Stages.

• STAGE ONE – Preliminary Planning:
  1. Community workshop (completed March 10, 2021) to gather ideas for the Community Hub and Active Youth Space, as presented in conceptual format in the adopted Sandy Beach Reserve Masterplan 2017;
  2. Review of feedback, ideas and comments;
  3. Preparation of more detailed concept designs for the Community Hub and Active Youth Space, informed by the community’s input through the Workshop and by agency stakeholders.

• STAGE TWO: Public Exhibition and Invitation for Public Submissions:
  1. Public exhibition of the draft concepts for a period of not less than 28 days and invitation for public submissions
  2. Review of public submissions on draft concepts
  3. Finalisation of concepts for the Community Hub and Active Youth Space

Behaviour at skate parks

Council manages the operations of a number of skate parks through the local government area. The advice of NSW Police is sought when planning our skate facilities and other relevant community recreation facilities. Council is currently liaising with the NSW Police in regards to the design of the Sandy Beach Reserve Skate Park. It is noted that there are residential homes located near to and opposite many of the other skate parks in the local government area. One of the key design objectives for the Sandy Beach projects is to improve sightlines to reduce anti-social behaviour and integrate the strategies and principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design and Safer By Design.

Car Park Planning

Parking availability, safety and congestion are among the Traffic and Parking requirements being considered in the planning. Concept plans for public exhibition will consider the public input so far and be informed by the Traffic and Parking requirements in addition to the following:

• Geotechnical Investigations;

• Stormwater, hydraulic and drainage requirements;

• Environmental assessment and approvals;

• Cultural and Heritage assessment and requirements;

• Appropriate engineering + construction standards.

Hi 25CA. Thank you for your question. The gate is being left open until the footpath extension works are completed to link the new path to the beach and viewing platform.

Hi Mim. The Stage One process is similar to the original Master-planning process; whereby a community workshop was held to have informed discussion in person about community values and priorities for the site. This was a larger process with a series of workshop - because of the larger sale of the Masterplan for the whole Reserve. The workshops informed the design of a draft Masterplan, which then went out online for consultations. This process is similar. The Masterplan is Adopted, following community input. Now we are into more detailed design considerations, and we wish to explore some aspects of the design with the community regarding the community hub and parking - and youth in particular in relation to the skate plaza and half basketball court. These discussions, will be considered along with design opportunities, safety recommendations and site constraints. This information will inform the preparation of a draft concept plan, which will be placed on public exhibition for a period of no less than 28 days. Should the March 10 workshop need to be cancelled because of rain or other factors, then we will need to revert to an online survey in place of the workshop. Please continue to check this web page for updates.

Thank you for advising. Your comment has been forwarded to relevant staff for attention.

Hi Sarah. Council has Reserve Naming and Memorial Policy, available on Council's website, here: https://www.coffsharbour.nsw.gov.au/Community-and-Recreation/Your-Neighbourhood/Pages/Naming-of-Council-owned-or-managed-Reserves.aspx

Section 2.2. outlines the requirements for this type of installation.  The application forms is is available on that website page.  Note that the policy limits the wording to ‘donated by’ or ‘provided by’.  The words ‘in memory’ are not included as an option.

Please contact Council's Technical Officer for Roads and Open Spaces, Sally Spunner, phone 6648 4541 for more information. Sally is expecting your call and will assist you.