The latest research available to the group is the “Worley Parsons – Farquhar Inlet Opening Management Plan – 2010” prepared for Greater Taree City Council. Option 5 was to pump 200,000 cubic metres of sand to Old Bar beach and nourish 4km x 2m high x 20m wide. This study can be accessed from the internet by searching 'Farquhar Inlet Opening Management Plan – 2010’.

The group is still working towards this option, in the knowledge that it will have many benefits to fishing, boating and wind surfing, all of which were carried out previously in the Inlet.

As advised previously MidCoast Council has $150,000 for a Risk Management Study and Plan for the Racecourse Creek catchment which is certainly in the system and the study is to be outsourced as soon as a suitable company is decided on.

Depending on the surveyor’s results regarding the beach scraping, council is hoping to have another beach scraping by the middle of the year. A total of 13,500 cu. metres was recovered and the response from the community and visitors has all been very positive.

The Old Bar Manning Point Coastal Management Program (CMP) is being worked on by Andrew Staniland with a time frame of early 2020 before it is completed. All required data from Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and boreholes will be finished by March and then remapping hazard lines for Old Bar and Manning Point will commence.

The Office of Environment and Heritage (science division) have prioritised Old Bar/Manning Point area, undertaking Bathymetric data, LiDAR and near shore data, which will be combined with GPR data, giving a greater understanding of this area and a good basis for management solutions.

Harrington Back Channel will be first to be dredged and the spoil from that will be placed on Manning Point Beach. Farquhar Inlet will follow – however the spoil, originally to be placed on the ocean beach, is now to be placed on the islands created by the Farquhar Inlet Management Group’s dredge. OBBSRG president says they feel this may result in the sand falling back into the inlet and have expressed a preference that it be placed on the ocean beach of Mitchells Island.

Some work may be done on more sand traps but further work will be put on hold because of very hot weather.

The OBBSRG always welcomes new members. It's your community, so why not give Elaine a call and consider joining, $10 a year is all it costs.

The Old Bar Road reconstruction was completed last week. We now have a very good surface from just east of the Manning Point Road intersection to Metz Road. Turning lanes for east and west bound traffic have been provided at the Warwiba Road intersection, the site of a number of fatalities a few years ago, making it much safer now.

Residents from Wallabi Point to Manning Point and all places in between will now enjoy this improvement, but look forward to the completion of the section from Metz Road to Pampoolah Road and from Manning Point Road to Old Bar township.

The first meeting for 2019 of the Old Bar Manning Point Business and Community Association was held last week at Flow Bar. Two projects that the association will be striving for are the rejuvenation of the foreshore and a mural or art work on the street wall at Coles, west of the bus shelters.

The association has been advised that crown lands in Old Bar will now be managed by MidCoast Council, which makes it easier in that there are only two local parties to meet and decide on things instead of having to also involve a State government department in Sydney. This will be a significant project and will take some time to come to fruition but is being worked on by vice president, Carole Isaacs.

It is hoped that someone can be found to manage the Coles wall project. At this stage, there are only ideas as to what it could look like, one being that the pictures could be removed and changed at intervals, perhaps at the change of the season or annually. Ideas from the community are welcome as well as offers of project management.

A large business directory in the form of a fridge magnet has been made and supplied by Mel Rosamond and is available to any association member.

The annual Christmas Bazaar was reported on. It was even more popular than previous events and just managed to complete and pack up before the severe storm descended on the area. As very few businesses remained open for the bazaar, it is being proposed that it be moved to the skate park this year and the number of activities can be expanded

Don't forget the Old Bar Men's Shed Health Expo at Club Old Bar today at 10am.