*Ø* Wilson's Almanac free daily ezine | Sandy Beach, NSW, Australia near Coffs Harbour and Woolgoolga | Environment anti SUV, anti-SUV, anti 4x4, no SUV, anti 4WD, 4X4

Beautiful Sandy Beach

It's not a road. It's a beach.

(Scroll to near foot of page for the Sandy Beach Wave – and pass it on!)

Above: Sandy Beach, January 21, 2005. Note the vehicular tracks.
Below: The sign at the place where cars illegally enter Sandy Beach.

Motor vehicles of any kind are not permitted on Sandy Beach, and fines apply. One reason is because vehicles compress the sand in which the crabs have burrowed (read more). Another is because vehicles (and dogs) startle the wildlife, not to mention kids and adults.

But the obvious one is because it's a beach, not a bloody road – but some people seem to get lost.

Click for the Sandy Beach Neanderthals photo files!

How can we keep traffic off our beach?

When you ask around, almost no one thinks beaches should be roads, especially community beaches like ours. Together we can do it. It would obviously be possible to have the entrance at the southern car park protected with a locking device of some sort that bona fide boat launchers could open with a key. You might have other solutions – suggest them at A Sandy Beach Almanac, tell Council, and tell the local papers and radio stations.

If residents and visitors (who come here not to sit on a road, but a beach), remain silent and just watch people driving around on Sandy Beach, the problem will only get worse, not better. We can do something about these lost people, and their cars (and dogs), by contacting council, which is committed to enforcing its regulations. It only takes a few minutes:
Who to talk to
The General Manager,
Coffs Harbour City Council
Locked Bag 155
Coffs Harbour NSW 2450      Phone: (02) 6648 4000

Council website    Council contact    More info    Links
Read some of my correspondence with Council
Invest half an hour for our community and talk to a journalist, or write a letter
The Editor, Coffs Coast Advocate,
PO Box 534, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450
advocate@coffscoastadvocate.com.au
Mid-North Coast ABC Radio
http://www.abc.net.au/midnorthcoast/  
Click for more media outlets
 
Do the Sandy Beach Wave!

Hey Sandy Beachers, four-wheel drivers on beaches love us to wave to them.

When you see one on the beach, give a great big Sandy Beach welcome so they'll come back soon!

Another friendly tip: They love seeing a camera pointed at them! Call out "Smile!".

Theory that SUVs are safer holds no water, says study

"That SUVs (sport utility vehicles) make for safer riding of children than passenger cars is just a myth, according to a study.

"Dennis Durbin, a pediatric physician at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, sponsors of the study, said: 'We're not saying they're worse or that they're terrible vehicles. We're challenging the conventional wisdom that everyone assumed they were better.'

"They base this on the fact that there is doubled risk of rollovers in SUVs, which offsets the other safety factors they offer like larger size and weight.

"According to the researchers, the findings debunk the myth, which has in fact popularized SUVs among families. The number of SUV registrations grew by 250 percent in the years between 1995 and 2002.

"This study was published Tuesday in the journal Pediatrics."
EarthTimes

Please tell friends, webmasters and media about the Sandy Beach Wave,

and keep Sandy Beach beautiful