Dubbo Regional Council explains Sandy Beach work after 'environmental disaster' claims

Heavy machinery has been at work at Sandy Beach recently, drawing the ire of the Save Dubbo's Greenspace group which has been posting photos on social media and causing quite a stir among residents.

But council has been keen to try and ease some concerns, stating the work was needed following flooding and is being done to assist a community club.

After enquiries form the Daily Liberal, council released a statement last Friday afternoon saying "to better facilitate access to the river, in particular for the Dragon Boat Club who use this area to launch their boat, council engaged a contractor who has started to move the sand in order to provide access" and "it is currently a work in progress and council is consulting with relevant stakeholders in order to complete the works".

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Council chief executive Murray Wood admitted council could have communicated with residents more before the work began.

"There was so much sand dropped at Sandy beach from Bell River and that made it very difficult because it changed Sandy Beach's shape substantially ... sand has been moved around," Mr Wood said.

"Arguably that was a bit of an error not talking to the residents first to let them know what was going on, but again, it was for good intentions so we'll make sure we make it right."

Mayor Mathew Dickerson also spoke about the situation and said the community needed to be able to enjoy the river.

"It's certainly one of the things we have to make sure that we comply with regulations set in place by other levels of government to ensure we are protecting the environment but also allowing residents to utilise the beautiful environment we have," the mayor said.

"We've got a beautiful river that runs in the middle of the city and we want people to be able to enjoy it. There's no point in having a river that no-one can access.

"In this particular situation, the dragon boaters is a fantastic club that does a lot of charity for cancer survivors and mental health in our community."

The Outback Dragons Dubbo Club president Graeme Board told the Daily Liberal they sought council's help to clear the area after the recent flooding as local boaters taking part in regatta competition conduct their training three times a week at Sandy Beach.

"We requested council assistance to try and clear the area for boaters. As a dragon boater for many years we do not want the area to be that much affected we're not blaming the council, council was just trying to help us. We never instructed the contractor to do what they did," Mr Board said.

Mr Dickerson said council allowed the work "to facilitate and make it easier for the boaters to get into the water".

Resident Jill Antony of Save Dubbo Greenspace posted photos of Sandy Beach taken on Thursday, January 12 and stated "bulldozers have ripped down the middle of our Sandy Beach, the grasses preventing soil erosion are scraped back".

The Daily Liberal spoke with Mrs Antony on Friday and she showed the area where "the vista has changed, altered the shape [of swimming and fishing area] where the blades have come and taken all that space".

Mrs Antony's group has been advocating for the council to create more green spaces around the city as more new housing estates are built and more people move in to live and work here.

"This area now lends itself to serious soil erosion, and that's one of the oldest gum trees here," Mrs Antony said.

"It's disgraceful."

Mrs Antony said she enquired at the council's parks and gardens committee and was told about a request from organisers of the Dubbo club to make a boat launching route for participating boaters and it was ticked off.

"Normally this area was all flat and they used to bring the boat down here and follow the course of the sand but a lot of sand came through during the recent flood and the council also brought in a lot of sand so it altered the topography and the view," Mrs Antony claimed.

Resident Thomas Skinner replied to Mrs Antony's social media post and urged locals to "walk along the river and see how much of it has changed in the last 12 months as a result of a massive amount of water that has gone down".

Gina Britten also reacted by saying it was "total ignorance using contractors with no care policy and no environmental knowledge".

Others referred to the work as "environmental vandalism" and "disgusting".

Councilor Josh Black said he was contacted by the residents worried about the loss of landscape along the river.

"It shows the importance of this special place to our local people I hope the solution will make everyone happy," he said.

Mr Black said the council has plans to transform the Macquarie River area into an idyllic public recreation space. The council has recently asked residents to have their say on the Macquarie River master plan, which covers the north and south corridors, and is now on public exhibition.

The mayor added anyone in the community who has an issue with council is best to contact them for information and answers.

"Putting some information into social media is like trivialising at the pub...send the message to myself as mayor or the council for action to be taken," he said.

"It is impossible for council staff to read every social media sites that's out there...it's best for them to come to me as their mayor."