Residents of a community on the edge of Lake Illawarra are fed up with having their land used as a public thoroughfare for fishing, and being told authorities will not take responsibility.
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The residents of the Oaklands park at Windang say the tidal zone and foreshore is being abused by fishermen and women, often from Sydney, who abuse bag limits, filling up large bucket after bucket with shellfish several times in a day.
“We can’t restrict who comes through here, but we have to pay the bills if someone comes in and injured themselves?”
And they want to keep out fishers who use their hoses to wash, help themselves to their furniture, and use their front yards as a toilet.
Residents’ association member Judi Goodwin said there was once a fence blocking access from the popular fishing platform near the Windang Bridge.
But this was removed by the Lake Illawarra Authority, before it was disbanded, in a bid to improve public access to the lake.
The fence was replaced by Wollongong City Council’s temporary cyclone fencing, but someone cut open the gate to regain access.
Since then council has maintained it’s not land or their responsibility.
Ms Goodwin said family groups take huge amounts of shellfish – oysters and pippies – and help themselves to the private land. They call Fisheries officers but they are often far away. Retirees have challenged the fishers for using their land but have been shouted at and abused.
Oaklands, a retirement village run by Gateway Lifestyle, sits a few metres off the edge of the lake. Wollongong and Shellharbour councils are responsible for the lake, but as Oaklands stops short of the water, the 2m strip in between is Crown land.
Erosion is taking its toll and signs warn of dangerous or uneven ground.
Council’s manager of infrastructure strategy and planning Mike Dowd said officers had met with residents over the issue, and said they should call the police if there was “anti-social behaviour”.
“This area has been open to the public for over a year,” he said.
“This land is the responsibility of the NSW Department of Primary Industries - Lands. Council is unable to restrict or prevent public access to the land between Oaklands Village and Lake Illawarra.
“If the residents wish to install fencing on their property boundary to prevent trespassing from the public foreshore area to their land, this is a matter for the landowner.”
Resident Bill Dries said the foreshore was uneven and treacherous, and if a trespasser injured themselves residents could be sued.
“We can’t restrict who comes through here, but we have to pay the bills if someone comes in and injured themselves?” he said.
