Improved access to Tacking Point Lighthouse is at the heart of a draft concept design.
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Port Macquarie-Hastings Council is seeking community feedback about the concept design for a new boardwalk and viewing platform leading to the lighthouse.
The council wants to make the lighthouse site more accessible to all.
The boardwalk and viewing platform design also aims to minimise the visual impact on the lighthouse, use robust materials, reduce environmental impact and appeal to visitors. The existing stairs would be retained.
The design is informed by a Conservation Management Plan for the site.
New endemic coastal plantings are planned to soften the boardwalk structure.
The Port Macquarie lighthouse attracts residents and tourists.
Tourists Chris and Yanti Ingleby visited the lighthouse on Monday [November 15].
Mrs Ingleby said she believed the proposed boardwalk would lift the area and make it more outstanding.
"It will attract more tourists," she said.
Mr Ingleby said the boardwalk would make the lighthouse accessible to people in wheelchairs.
"They will be able to appreciate the lighthouse like everyone else," he said.
Visitor Belinda Wilson said she felt a boardwalk would spoil the beauty of the place.
"It is probably going to create a litter problem with the wind blowing litter underneath," she said.
There is no construction timeline as the project relies on funding.
The boardwalk and viewing platform form part of the Tacking Point Lighthouse Reserve Masterplan.
The council will host an online consultation session about the draft concept design on Wednesday [November 17] between 6pm and 7.30pm via Zoom.
Head to the council's have your say webpage to learn more about the project and register your attendance.
Other options to provide feedback include completing an online survey or visiting an information stand at Tacking Point Surf Life Saving Club from 9am to 11am on Saturday, November 20 and filling out a feedback form.
The closing date for all feedback is December 6.
The concept plan follows a project in 2019 which improved Lighthouse Road east access to the lighthouse precinct.
The upgrade included the widening and resurfacing of Lighthouse Road from Matthew Flinders Drive through to the lighthouse, the installation of kerb and guttering and the replacement of stormwater services.
A new footpath went in from Davis Crescent through to the existing elevated viewing platform and parking in the lighthouse's lower car park was formalised.
Meanwhile, the Rotary Club of Port Macquarie Sunrise has been instrumental, in partnership with the council, in restoring and enhancing the lighthouse and surrounding headland over recent years.
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