Our Tweed Vision

More than 40 Tweed residents took the opportunity to chat face-to-face with their elected members when the inaugural Councillors' Community Catch-up was staged at the Tweed Heads markets last Sunday.

The Kennedy Drive upgrade, water meters, rubbish services and a proposed new police station for Kingscliff were among the topics raised by visitors to the Council stall.

Councillors Warren Polglase, Dot Holdom, Mayor Kevin Skinner and Joan van Lieshout attended the market stall at the Tweed Police Citizens Youth Club.

"The Community Catch-ups are a new initiative to make our elected members more accessible to the public, in response to feedback we received during last year's consultation campaign for the Community Strategic Plan," according to Council General Manager Mike Rayner, who was also present at Sunday's stall.

"The inaugural Catch-up showed how they will be an extremely valuable exercise to enable the councillors to hear the concerns and opinions of residents and to really discuss ideas to take the Tweed forward.

"They are one of the key initiatives in the Community Engagement Strategy adopted by Council last September, to effectively involve the community in public discussion about the Tweed's future and to ensure the elected members are as well informed as possible when making their decisions."

Mr Rayner said while attendances at Sunday's market might have been slightly down because it was Father's Day, the interaction between residents and councillors at the stall was a positive step forward.

"Many of the residents who attended the stall provided very constructive input and Council is already acting upon feedback it received," Mr Rayner said.

"It also enabled the councillors to shed some light on Council activities.

"It opened another channel of communication and I anticipate we will receive an equally positive response when the Chillingham Markets host the next Councillors' Community Catch-up on Sunday 13 November from 9am to 1pm."

With Anzac Day just around the corner, here's an overview of the cenotaph area in the proposed Kingscliff Central Park.

The online community forum for the Kingscliff Central Park concept plans will be extended for another fortnight to allow further investigation of a proposal for more car parking in the town's centre.

Existing forum comments demanding additional car parking – and the emergence of a possible avenue for regional development funding - has prompted Council to give greater consideration of a proposal to create a partially underground car park as part of the Central Park.

The proposed facility would create up to 100 additional parking spaces at the Central Park site, while addressing opposition expressed by many community members to allocating more of the Kingscliff foreshore to car parking.

"The partially underground car park provides a clever solution to the conflicting demands of additional parking while protecting foreshore parkland – and had been earmarked for possible later inclusion once funds became available," the Mayor of Tweed, Councillor Kevin Skinner, said.

"However, the current program of community engagement has reaffirmed the community's demand for more parking along that section of Marine Parade. At the same time, Council will consider nominating Kingscliff Central Park as its top priority for funding through the Regional Development Australia Fund.

"The Central Park project is Council's best opportunity to take advantage of those Federal funds and enables Council to include the car park as part of the initial central park concept plans."

A recommendation to put Kingscliff Central Park on the top of its list of nominations for Regional Development Australia Fund assistance will be considered at the 19 April Council meeting.

Cr Skinner said Council had decided the community should be given additional time to comment on the Kingscliff Central Park concept plan, now the car park proposal had been brought to the fore.

"Draft designs and artists impressions of the car park have been added to the website, to show how a section of it will be located beneath the Central Park," Cr Skinner said.

"Its design, as opposed to an entirely underground car park, will enhance natural lighting and assist with security and surveillance of the car park."

The closing date for the online forum and the deadline for written submissions will both be extended to Tuesday 26 April at 4pm.

Concept designs of the car park can be viewed at the photograph library and document library of the Kingscliff Central Park webpage.

The Mayor of Tweed, Councillor Kevin Skinner, has spent the past few days visiting Marine Parade businesses to discuss the Kingscliff Central Park concept plans.

Cr Skinner said he was keen to hear the views of Kingscliff business people about Central Park, which would link these businesses with the beach.

"It would create a new community nucleus on the doorstep of these businesses," he said.

"The consensus seems to be 'let's make Central Park a reality, the sooner the better'."

Kingscliff businessman Mark Zwemer said the proposed Central Park would be a great initiative for the town.

"I have been saying for a while that there needed to be better access from the central business area to the beach," Mr Zwemer said.

"I really like the concept Council has put forward. I would like to see the provision of more parking and to possibly look at moving the park to the middle of the existing holiday park site."

Kingscliff Central Park and the Kingscliff Foreshore Master Plan gained added momentum last week when it was incorporated into a list of projects for a regional development plan.

It was one of five projects identified by the March Council meeting for inclusion in a Northern Rivers Regional Plan. It will be considered by Regional Development Australia – Northern Rivers panel for inclusion in the finalised plan, along with major regional development initiatives throughout the Northern Rivers.

The online community forum for the Kingscliff Central Park concept plans reached its midway point last weekend, with many community members taking the opportunity to have their say.

The month-long forum has revealed a wide variety of opinions and will be conducted by Tweed Shire Council until 12 April.

Council's Senior Design Engineer, Warren Boyd, said while the forum had attracted a large number of comments, it was important to focus on the primary focus of this forum and the overall community engagement campaign.

"This is really about fine-tuning the design of Kingscliff Central Park, to ensure it contains the features and facilities the community wants," Mr Boyd said.

"A previous round of public consultation in 2007, to create the Kingscliff Foreshore Master Plan, identified what the community wanted at each section of the town's foreshore. There was clear cut support for a reduction in the size of the Kingscliff Beach Holiday Park and the creation of a community park in the land it vacated.

"The online forum and other initiatives in the current engagement campaign aims to take planning to the next stage, to decide what will go in that Central Park."

Mr Boyd said the foreshore master plan mapped out a staged upgrade of the whole Kingscliff foreshore from Cudgen Creek to the Kingscliff North Holiday Park.

"It specifically identifies the site between the Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club and Kingscliff Beach Club for the Central Park, which will serve as a community hub and strategic link between the beach and Kingscliff's central business district," he said.

Council does not currently have the funds required to create Central Park, however, the project gained added momentum last week when it was incorporated into a list of projects for a regional development plan.

It was one of five projects identified by the March Council meeting for inclusion in a Northern Rivers Regional Plan. It will be considered by Regional Development Australia – Northern Rivers panel for inclusion in the finalised plan, along with major regional development initiatives throughout the Northern Rivers.

Visitors to last weekend's community information stall about Kingscliff Central Park expressed a wide variety of opinions about the park's proposed features.

Persistent rain did not stop more than 40 people from attending the information stall, held at the NSW Surf Life Saving Championships in Kingscliff on Saturday 19 March.

The project manager, Council Senior Design Engineer Warren Boyd, said the stall generated a lot of constructive discussion about Kingscliff Central Park.

"Many of the visitors to the stall were very positive about the concept of Central Park. However, there was a lot of valuable comments about possible changes to fine-tune the park design," Mr Boyd said.

"That really is the purpose of this community engagement campaign.

"A previous round of public consultation in 2007, to create the Kingscliff Foreshore Master Plan, identified what the community wanted at each section of the town's foreshore. There was clear-cut support for a reduction in the size of the Kingscliff Beach Holiday Park and the creation of a community park in the land it vacated.

"The online forum and other initiatives in the current engagement campaign aims to take planning to the next stage, to decide what will go in that Central Park."

Mr Boyd said the foreshore master plan mapped out a staged upgrade of the whole Kingscliff foreshore from Cudgen Creek to the Kingscliff North Holiday Park.

"It specifically identifies the site between the Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club and Kingscliff Beach Club for the Central Park, which will serve as a community hub and strategic link between the beach and Kingscliff's central business district," he said.

Many of the visitors were divided in their opinions about a half basketball court including in the concept plans. Some welcomed the sealed ball games area, which also provided a location for kids to ride skateboards rather than the town's car parks, while others were not sure it was conducive to a family-orientated park.

What do you think about the half basketball court and other features in the concept plans? Sign up for the online forum and have your say before 12 April.

Many of the district's business people showed their support for the proposed Kingscliff Central Park, when Council representatives addressed a meeting of the Kingscliff and District Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, 15 March.

A show of hands at the breakfast meeting, staged at the Kingscliff Beach Club, indicated the vast majority of chamber members at the forum favoured the proposal and Central Park concept plans.

Council's Senior Design Engineer, Warren Boyd, outlined the Kingscliff Foreshore Master Plan's three-step program to address beach erosion at the site, to redevelop the Kingscliff Beach Holiday Park and create the Central Park.

It was the second information session to explain the Central Park plans, after Mr Boyd addressed a meeting of the Kingscliff Residents and Ratepayers Association the previous week.

The entire community will have further opportunity to find out about the Master Plan and Central Park when Council conducts a community information session at the NSW Surf Life Saving Championships on Saturday, 19 March.

Residents and organisation representatives can attend Council's information stall, at an expo in Lions Park, any time between 10am and 2pm to speak to Council representatives.

Council kick-started its community engagement period for the Kingscliff Central Park concept plans by addressing a meeting of the Kingscliff Residents and Ratepayers Association on Monday 7 April.

The Council's Senior Design Engineer, Warren Boyd, outlined a three-stage program - contained in Council's Kingscliff Foreshore Master Plan - to restore sand supplies on the Kingscliff beach and dunes, redevelop the Kingscliff Beach Holiday Park and create the Central Park.

Mr Boyd informed resident association members about the proposed park's designs and objectives, as well as the causes of severe erosion of the southern section of Kingscliff Beach.

Association members raised questions about several features of the park, including the expanded area around the cenotaph, a new amenities building near the playground, and the provision of additional parking.

The broader community will have plenty of opportunity to find out about Kingscliff Central Park and to ask questions, when Council staff stage an information session at the NSW Surf Life Saving Championships on Saturday, 19 March.

Council will have an information stall in Lions Park, next to the Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club, from 10am to 2pm. Residents are invited to drop into the stall any time during that period, to view documents and videos about the Central Park and to ask questions about the park and Kingscliff Foreshore Master Plan.

Tweed Shire Council's latest online public forum is making it easy for the community to comment on concept plans for a new Kingscliff Central Park.

Council announced it would staged the online forum for an extended 35-day public exhibition period, from 7 March to 12 April 2011.

Go to our online discussion to have your say on the final Central Park design.

The Mayor of Tweed, Councillor Kevin Skinner, said Central Park would be a valuable new community hub in Kingscliff and Council wanted to give residents, community organisations and businesses plenty of opportunity to provide input to the final design.

"The Central Park will provide a vibrant public open space which links the beach with the town's central business district," Cr Skinner said.

"It will be a centrepiece of the Kingscliff foreshore and a community hub for the town.

"It will serve as a venue for festivals and performances and a gathering place for locals and visitors to Marine Parade's shops and cafes."

The Central Park is a major feature of the Kingscliff Foreshore Master Plan adopted by Council in July 2007, to establish a vision for future foreshore upgrades.

Cr Skinner said residents and organisations had a week to find out about the Central Park concept plans – by visiting the On Exhibition page of Council's website www.tweed.nsw.gov.au – before the online forum got underway. Fact sheets on the Central Park and master plan are also available at Council's offices at Tweed Heads and Murwillumbah and libraries at Kingscliff, Tweed Heads and Murwillumbah.

The forum will be part of a special website, www.yoursaytweed.com.au/kingscliffpark, which will be online from 14 March at 9am. It will feature all the information about the Kingscliff Foreshore Master Plan and Kingscliff Central Park, including videos of the park design.

Kingscliff Central Park is part of a three-step process for the foreshore between Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club and the Kingscliff Beach Club, to restore the beach and dunes, redevelop the Kingscliff Beach Holiday Park and create the Central Park.

Council's Director of Engineering and Operations, Patrick Knight, said Council did not currently have the funds available to create the Kingscliff Central Park or to undertake a long-term sand pumping program to restore the adjacent stretch of beach.

"However, it is completing the Central Park plans and finalising arrangements for a source of nourishment sand, so both steps are ready to proceed when State or Federal funding becomes available," Mr Knight said.

"Council conducted an extensive public consultation program to create the master plan but we are also keen to get community feedback on the park concept plans."