LIKE many others in her group, Elaine Pearce has a personal and vested interest in the Old Bar erosion issue � she intends to retire one day in the unit she owns in the Meridian beachfront resort � if the resort withstands the encroaching coastline.

But she counts herself as one of the more fortunate 'victims' of the relentless forward march of the waterline.

"I have resigned myself to my fate in losing the investment I have made in a beachfront location," she said this week.

"But my thoughts are for all the other homeowners along this stretch of coast... the young families with mortgages who thought they were doing the right thing by buying close to the beach.

"Our beautiful beachfronts are the jewel in the crown of Greater Taree City Council. How lucky are they to have such an area to look after.

"But they're not looking after them, and anyone can see what's now happening right before our eyes."

Old Bar Beach Sand Replenishment Group (OBBSRG) was formed 12 months ago to air residents' concerns about the erosion which has already claimed two beachfront dwellings just south of Badgers Creek and the Meridian Resort.

It has staged a constant letter writing campaign to council, mainly based on its belief that protective groynes � used successfully around Australia and the world � could be the answer to Old Bar's problems.

It has extensively researched the use of geotextile bags in groynes at places like Russell Heads, Elliott Heads, Maroochydore, Kirra and Agnes Waters in Queensland, also in Victoria, and places like Busselton and Cottlesloe in Western Australia.

The group also cites the success of an earlier local effort � a gabion wall built by council at Badgers Creek in 1992 � as a precedent. Despite being uncovered at times of heavy rain when the creek scours, the wall of rock-filled wire cages soon traps sand again and replenishes the scoured sections.

Council, according to Ms Pearce, says a gabion wall is not a groyne, and dismisses the argument.