Rocks Ferry resident Greg Elliott has been campaigning for years to have the riverbank fixed, after floods washed part of it away in 2015.
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Now the council have begun 50m of rock revetment works along the Hastings River including rock armouring and a minor section of shared path reinstatement, and help protect the embankment from future flooding.
Over the years, Greg has written to State, Federal and local government and finally he is happy that a start is being made.
“It’s a good step at the right time, to help make it safe for everyone to use,” he said.
“We have parkrunners on Saturday morning, women with children, people walking and jogging. There are two places that sell Wauchope; one is the riverbank, the other is beside the golf course.
“We can’t let it go backwards. We have to go forward. Now that it is heritage-listed, we can go a bit further again and the historical society and the Chamber will put up stones telling you the history of this area. It’s been a long, long journey.
“I am very, very happy to see this day. I did not expect it. Every time, I wanted to go one step, I had to go three steps back. Things take time to be done, and now it’s being done. Yippee for Wauchope,” he said.
Council says work has begun at Rocks Ferry Reserve in Wauchope to address a highly eroded section of the riverbank near Princess Ave, to protect it from from future flood erosion.
“Every effort is being made to minimise inconvenience for local residents and visitors during construction... for safety please exercise caution and stay out of the fenced area,” said a council spokesperson.
Rocks Ferry Reserve is a popular public recreation area located on the Hastings River in Wauchope and is an ideal venue for recreational boating and motorised water sports, annual rowing regattas and club meetings.
The reserve has picnic tables, a boat ramp, car parking, play equipment, barbeques, a shared footpath/ cycleway and a shingle beach used for water skiing and water sport access to the river.
The work to repair the reventment wall is estimated to two about two months to complete, weather and resource availability permitting.
During the construction access to sections of the reserve will be restricted.
