Grassy Head

Walkers 'gouged and scratched'

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TRAVELLERS have fat chance of using coastal paths to stay fit on NSW's Mid North Coast, according to WA caravanner Erica Minarik.

She claims that while the rest of Australia is tackling obesity by installing walking/cycle paths, Kempsey Shire is letting theirs "go to ruin".

Erica says she and her partner have enjoyed numerous East Coast cycling and walking paths during their caravanning adventures.

But they were "disappointed" when they reached her old stomping ground to find all the paths and cycleways "in a very sorry state".

"I first wanted to show my partner the lookout at Grassy Head, which was totally overgrown – I couldn’t even find the path!" she complained in a letter to The Mackay Argus.

"Then we tried the path along the river from Stuarts Point to Grassy Head, which was again overgrown, and eventually we had to turn back because the bridge was broken down.

"Even the walking/cycle path along Grassy Head Rd was non existent in parts and poor in the majority."

She wrote of attempting the Connor Trail from Hat Head to Hungry Hill and how they were "gouged and scratched" from bushes and trees across the path, which was hardly visible in places.

"What does Kempsey Shire expect their visitors to do while they're in the area ... fish?

"This is the only shire we have experienced so far which hasn't improved facilities around beaches and headlands."