Christine Hamilton and Pip Marshman came up with the concept and brought a group of like-minded professionals together to form the Tathra Wharf and Headland Access Group. 

The main reasons for a walking path are to increase tourism in the area, increase safety along the already existing path, improve access to the headland and Tathra Wharf, and to educate people with interpretative signs. 

The path would be where the current track extends, from the car park at the Lions Memorial Garden to the Tathra Wharf.

“We see great potential in having a pathway, and it meets a lot of criteria to really showcase the headland to tourists, students and improve safety,” Ms Marshman said. 

There are no warning signs along the current path, which is mostly dirt, uneven and unfenced.

“Basically, the path is unsafe as it is and a lot of walkers go down there, probably 50-60 each day,” Ms Hamilton said.

Ms Marshman said having an easily accessible path would be a major attraction for tourists, and encourage them to stay longer in the town. 

A draft plan has been designed by the access group, showing the possibilities a path offers, including becoming wheelchair accessible. 

“If it’s done properly, it should be accessible to everyone,” Ms Marshman said. 

Viewing platforms and educational signs would be placed along the path, with information on the signs discussing Indigenous culture, flora and fauna, World War 2 and local history, geology, fishing grounds, dangers of the sea and more. 

The current path’s last 50-metre stretch to the wharf has partly disintegrated due to its close proximity to a cliff.

The access group has suggested a platform be installed along here, which would protect walkers from falling rocks from the adjacent rock wall.

As Bega Valley Shire Council will close Tathra Wharf in high seas, the path could also be closed in bad weather too. 

“There is a possibility the track could be damaged in seas again, but the cost of repairing that is minimal to keep this a safe walk,” Ms Hamilton said. 

It could form a greater pathway around Tathra, joining the informal paths from Kianinny to the headland, and the wharf to Tathra Beach. 

The access group is beginning community consultations on the issue and council will hold a town meeting in the future. 

DURING the recent council meeting, Cr Bill Taylor said while many people believe the Tathra Ring Road was destroyed by stormy seas, it wasn’t the case.

According to Cr Taylor’s memory, the ring road was used up until the late 1970s when its bitumen was lifted by the Department of Main Roads, the precursor to Roads and Maritime Services. 

He said the reason for this was the road was damaged - partly by large seas in the 1950s - and it wasn’t maintained. 

“Once a road isn’t maintained, even rainwater destroys it,” Cr Taylor said. 

Weighing in on the debate over a pathway or road around the headland, Cr Taylor said in the future the Tathra Wharf will need money spent on it in order to keep it maintained. 

The “key is accessibility”, Cr Taylor said, and if buses are able to drop off and pick up tourists at the wharf it will become a greater attraction.

“The more use it gets the more likely it is to attract funding,” Cr Taylor said.