Student pleas for fence for Lennox Head after two friends take their lives

A Year 12 student from Lennox Head wants the council to ‘hurry up’ and erect a fence at a local lookout to prevent more deaths after two of his friends suicided at the location.

After two of his friends took their lives at the same lookout point, a desperate Cooper Berry wrote a letter to the local mayor begging for a safety fence before there is another tragedy.

In May, Year 8 student Hamish Ingram, 14, took his life at Pat Morton Lookout at Lennox Head. In September 2020, Lily Dowling, 13, did the same.

Cooper, 17, a Year 12 student from Xavier College at Lennox Head, said both students were his friends and he was devastated that nothing had been done.

The letter, titled Suicide Point, was sent to Ballina Mayor Sharon Cadwallader and pleaded for a fence.

“He was a good mate of mine and the Year 8 girl who did the exact same thing almost two years ago was also a family friend of mine,” Cooper wrote.

The lookout point at Lennox Head. Picture: Danielle Smith

“Two people I’ve had close friendships with have taken their lives at this exact same point, that being Pat Morton Lookout in Lennox. There have also been other incidents of misadventure, not to mention other potential suicides that have not been publicly talked about.

“The point is not safe, and having something like this in proximity to a school where young kids are highly likely to make irrational decisions is severely worrying.

Year 8 student Hamish Ingram, 14, took his own life at the Lennox Head lookout.

Cooper Berry, 17, wants a fence built at Lennox after two friends suicided. Picture: Danielle Smith

“They don‘t understand that being depressed is silent. People fight battles in their heads and don’t go telling everyone that they want to die. So we need a more practical solution. I was thinking about a guard rail or a telephone that goes straight to the lifeline,” he said in the letter.

Cooper said time was critical.

“(The council) need to hurry up. I personally find the hesitancy of this to be severely disrespectful. If they had put one in when Lily jumped, Hamish might still be here,” he said.

“The reason I wrote the letter was because I feel that the point is not safe at all – obvious, it‘s a fricking cliffside – but also how there is nothing there to stop people from jumping or even just falling as has happened in the past.

“This is incredibly dangerous being right near a high school, where young people are likely to make irrational decisions because of bullying and so on. I know this for a fact … I’ve seen a lot of it first-hand, being bullied myself.”

Cooper Berry’s letter to mayor.

Cooper Berry is desperate to prevent more suicides.

Ms Cadwallader said council had been in discussions with police and other stakeholders looking at solutions and confirmed it would build a fence at the lookout.

“We are definitely going ahead with the fence but can’t get contractors to put the fence up – it has to be marine grade and it is in a precarious location. The design is underway and the materials are being sourced,” she said.

“We are looking at making the fence ourselves but we have 17 vacancies in our engineering department with labour shortages everywhere.

“We are hoping it is only a couple of months off, but it is the pipeline.”

Ms Cadwallader said she totally agreed with Cooper’s letter.

“It’s heartbreaking but I agree and we hope, in conjunction with the police, to have cameras there that can be monitored back at the police station, that is what I am wanting, it buys time,” she said.

The community has also called for a Headspace facility for Ballina because the closest is in Lismore, which is too far away for young people to travel.

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