Fury as Terrigal War Memorial used as windbreak, towel rack
MEMBERS of the Terrigal-Wamberal RSL Sub Branch are seething over the lack of respect shown towards the war memorial on Terrigal Esplanade.
Central Coast
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MEMBERS of the Terrigal-Wamberal RSL Sub Branch are seething over the lack of respect shown towards the war memorial on Terrigal Esplanade.
A member of the Sub Branch snapped this picture last week showing a group of people, mostly young women and at least one middle aged man, with their towels laid out on the grass and using it as a windbreak.
Terrigal-Wamberal RSL Sub Branch president Peter White said the club had gone to great lengths over the years to make the memorial recognisable as a place of special significance, and to teach people to recognise the sacrifice of our veterans.
The memorial was originally located against the surf club wall near the toilets, but was moved to its current site in the early 1990s.
Consisting of an obelisk and a small wall of remembrance, Mr White said an angled sandstone cap was added to the wall in the early 2000s to discourage people sitting on it.
He said the club approached Central Coast Council in 2016 to have a fence or chain put around it, but was told that could pose a safety risk.
Instead council last year came up with an alternative idea of a garden and installed two large planter boxes.
“We have recently added a garden to the memorial at Terrigal in an effort to make it obvious that it is neither a towel rack nor a place to sit,” Mr White said.
“It never occurred to us that in doing this we were providing a convenient windbreak.
“We ask the public, will you please understand that this memorial is dedicated to those that gave their lives in the name of our country.
“Please recognise this and do not dishonour their memory.”
Terrigal-Wamberal RSL Sub Branch member John George said it had been “a few months since I’ve had to chastise someone”.
“I really think it’s just ignorance,” he said.
“It’s a piece of stone and they don’t know what it’s all about.
“I don’t think people deliberately do it any harm, but we need to do more to make people aware it is a memorial and needs to be respected.”
