More than beach needs to be cleaned up

Regarding the Ettalong foreshore upgrade and the 18-year lobbying by the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, as a result the beach front is beautiful.

As for attracting more visitors, especially from outside the area, good luck with that.

Outsiders, of which I am one along, have to be welcomed by the locals along this beach and surrounding area.

My family and I come from a neighbouring town and, as we don't have a beach as such, we decided to visit Ettalong Beach as it seemed so nice.

We bought our grandchildren for a swim and to relax on the beach so we chose a place which specifically said, on an erected sign: "No dogs allowed on this part of the beach".

Good, this is where we will be as we do not like dogs on the beach and we have a right as citizens to not have dogs around our children when we are at the beach.

How wrong we were.

This did not stop irresponsible, supposedly mature people, from walking their dogs on this part of the beach.

When approached by me and asked to remove their dogs from the beach, I was confronted with foul language in front of my grandchildren, spitting at me with a "don't care, call the cops" attitude, "get a life" and so on - mainly from adult women.

This is the second time this has happened to us, so we will never come back again.

We will find another beach that has better control of dogs.

Animal owners need to clean up their act first and then maybe the visitors will come back.

Also, get rid of all those ducks.

What sort of disease are they carrying, especially with all that bird poo around the area?

Some people think ducks are great, until they get sick and are told it is possibly from birds.

I think the project is great and will be fantastic, but please, control the locals first, dish out a few fines and a few life bans for dogs on the beach.

Email, 21 Mar 2013

Rob Bust, Woy Woy Bay