Lennox Head sporting groups and concerned residents opposed to aspects of a plan for the villages main recreational reserve are staging a rally this Saturday, March 1.
The Lennox Head Combined Sports Association (LHCSA) is urging locals to dress up in their favourite sporting gear for the Help Save Williams Reserve event at the reserve from 11.30am to 1pm, with a free sausage sizzle and entertainment.
The rally is aimed at stopping the encroachment of a proposed skate park into the existing sporting area of the reserve as well as ensuring a management plan is formulated for the reserve, with relevant community consultation.
In a flyer circulated throughout Lennox Head, the association says it supports Ballina Shire Councils plan to integrate the skate park into the proposed community centre planned for the reserve but wants the reserve to remain an active sporting field for all.
The LHCSA says it also supports the use of the reserve for temporary overflow car parking to accommodate the peak use of the community centre, provided the future use of the reserve is controlled by a management plan.
Councils Lennox Head Strategic Plan aims to eventually remove all organised sport from the reserve once other sporting fields in the Lennox Head area are developed.
LHCSA president Darel Vidler told The Echo the association would vigorously oppose any such move, because after all, the sporting clubs of Lennox Head developed the fields, provided the infrastructure and maintained the field for over 25 years.
If and when the Pines Estate fields are completed, they, along with fields located at Megan Crescent, Skennars Head and Williams Reserve, will still fall short of the required amount of area needed to service the current population of Lennox Head, Mr Vidler said. It is imperative that Williams Reserve be retained, the Pines fields be completed and that Council actively pursue other suitable sites as the population of Lennox Head is expected to double in the next 10 years.
Council will debate the issue at its meeting today (Thursday, February).