A funding application by Bellingen Shire Council to the Department of Industry’s Tourism Driver Demand Infrastructure Program has been successful, providing $112,000 on a matching basis.

As the proposed site is sensitive coastal Crown land, pre-dredging assessments are the first step. The money will finance a Review of Environmental Factors, a Geotech survey of acid sulphate levels, and then, all being well, dredging of the lagoon to allow swimming even at low tide.

In partnership with Reflections Holiday Parks, Council is also seeking funding for subsequent stages that include infrastructure such as pontoons and gangways.

Reflections Holiday Parks CEO Steve Edmonds said the Group was looking forward to working with the council on the project that will ultimately bring new life to a much-loved destination for locals and visitors.  

“We are highly committed to the improvement of the Urunga Foreshore to its former glory, as we are with reinvesting in all parks and reserves located on Crown lands,” Mr Edmonds said.

Bellingen’s mayor Dominic King said he was elated by the funding announcement.

“Council has a strong working relationship with Reflections Holiday Parks, who have been a great support over many years.

“While there is still lots to do before the project is complete this funding announcement is a great step forward,” Cr King said.

The original sea lido in Urunga was an enclosed swimming area constructed in the mid-1970s.

It was demolished by the Urunga Reserve Trust in 1999 after the structure deteriorated due to concrete cancer (decay) and became a significant safety and financial liability to the trust. 

A 2015 Urunga Tidal Swimming Facility feasibility study found strong support in the community for it to be re-established at the old lido site.

The feasibility study suggested two similarly priced possibilities for the development: Option 1A –  two pontoons 25m apart with an aluminium walkway to the foreshore; Option 1B – a northern extension to the existing boardwalk, and a single pontoon that will rise and fall with the tide.