Mayor calls out Farnborough 4WD ‘idiots’

Livingstone Mayor Andy Ireland says police have told him who is responsible for causing destruction in the dunes at Farnborough Beach.

The behaviour of four-wheel-drivers on Farnborough Beach is under heavy scrutiny. Generic file photo.

Livingstone Mayor Andy Ireland has revealed who authorities say is responsible for causing four-wheel-drive destruction in the dunes at Farnborough Beach.

The long-running issue of vehicle and pedestrian safety along the popular stretch of coastline was reignited at the July 20 ordinary council meeting.

While Councillor Pat Eastwood said he would like to see the community “dob in a donut”, Mr Ireland revealed what 4WD behaviour was concerning him the most and which drivers were reportedly to blame.

“I think that the key to this is actually education of beach users and beach goers, in reducing that errant behaviour,” Mr Ireland said as he spoke in favour of Livingstone’s new approach to tackle the ongoing controversy.

“The activities in front of the Bangalee settlement itself, yes, that’s an issue.

“But my greater concern is what happens further up the beach, in the dunes - when you get these idiots tearing through turtle nests and bird nests, and everything else.

“And the police tell us, these aren’t people who are local.

“They are out-of-towners doing this, because they have no clue about the environmental damage that they’re perpetrating on us, and on our environment.”

Livingstone Shire Council Mayor Andy Ireland.

At the July ordinary meeting, councillors ultimately decided that Livingstone would only expend necessary funds to maintain Bangalee ramps to allow them to function.

They also stood strong on a commitment to investigate an alternate/additional Farnborough Beach/Big Dune Beach vehicle access, north of Bangalee, in order to address current and future growth.

Councillors also voted for a report to come back to the October meeting in relation to the development of a traffic management strategy.

Councillors further decided that a public meeting would be held with the Bangalee community and interested stakeholders.

The purpose of that meeting would be to get more input from the public in relation to a potential new or alternate access to Farnborough Beach.

It seems an eternity ago that Councillor Adam Belot raised safety and congestion concerns late in 2019 in relation to the existing Bangalee access to Farnborough Beach.