Give us our beach and our views back

I have read the letter the Peninsula News Forum this week from Shirley Hotchkiss regarding her concerns over the so-called "dunes" opposite the Ettalong Beach town centre and her statements about people such as the Mainstreet Co-ordinator Debra Wales and President Chamber of Commerce Matthew Wales.

For those of us who know the area well, I have fond memories of Ettalong Beach sitting on the old grass embankments watching the kids play in the safe waters with the canoes and sailing boats.

Those were the days (not so long ago) when Ettalong Beach was packed with young families and the town was alive with both residents and visitors.

But, alas, along came the do-gooders in the 1980s and started planting out the foreshore where our families used to play and created the hideous dune landscape that does nothing but obstruct views, overpower the beach, harbour drunks and hooligans and drives the families from the beach.

I can never remember the beach looking so poorly and the antisocial behaviour as bad as it is today.

It is an embarrassment when international and interstate visitors comment on the very poor presentation of Ettalong Beach, right through to Ocean Beach.

Please give us some local politicians who will have the guts to support Ms Wales and give us what most ratepayers want - our beach and our views back

Michael Pearson, Blackwall