Frewins Walk at Forster will be closed from Monday 17 May as abseiling bush regeneration contractors access the cliffs to treat environmental weeds.
Weather permitting, the walk way will be closed week days from 7am until 3pm until the works are complete.
While closures will be timed where possible to avoid peak use periods, the walkways must be closed to the public to allow the abseiling contractors to safely access the cliff faces and to limit pedestrian traffic over their anchor points.
"While environmental restoration programs have successfully controlled many coastal weeds over the past decade, environmental weeds have colonised, spread and outcompeted native species on inaccessible parts of our coastal headlands," said MidCoast Council's Sustainability and Natural Assets Coordinator, Tanya Cross.
"While helicopter spraying has been extremely effective to treat large areas along beach dunes, the close proximity of houses meant this method was unsuitable for treating weeds on exposed headlands."
Council's bush regeneration contractors, Bushland and Rainforest Restoration and Consulting (BARRC), have recently started weed control by abseiling on the exposed cliff faces of Frewins and Second Head in Forster.
"Within the Pebbly Beach section at Frewins Walk, a thin strip of lantana has been intentionally left to provide bank stabilisation. The lantana will be progressively removed over time in combination with the replanting of native species to minimise erosion and stabilise the foot of the cliff," explained Tanya Cross.
Once these two sites have been completed, the contractors will continue to work south along the cliff face towards Bennetts Head. Similar abseiling works will also be undertaken at Burgess Beach, Boomerang Head, Black Head and Redhead with funding provided by Council's Environmental Rate and matching funding provided through the NSW Bushfire Affected Coastal Waterways Program.
