🟡 A historic cafe & controversial carpark

Including: Meet the locals, Bellingen edition.

Author

Ellie Chamberlain
October 24, 2025

⏱️ The 73rd edition of our newsletter is a six-minute read.

🙋‍♀️ Hi, Ellie here – your reporter for the Mid North Coaster.

Welcome to all our new subscribers and thank you to everyone for following along. It’s been lovely receiving your positive feedback and story pitches.

✏️ Remember, if you ever want to get in touch simply reply to this email.

🗞️ In today’s newsletter: The controversial design plan for Crescent Head was finally adopted on Tuesday by Kempsey Shire councillors. We’ll take a look at the plan and what happens next.

Earlier this week I also spoke to Phil Lee, from the Macleay River Historical Society, who shared the 100+ year story of South West Rocks’ Heritage Guest House & Cafe. It includes an engagement called off, a billiard room, and multiple new venue names.

You’ll also find out whether or not you guessed correctly for the most recent “Where is this on the Mid North?” video — and we’ll have a chat with a Bellingen resident about living in the area.

Let’s dive in…

🟡 SOMETHING HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND

🏁 The Beechwood Billycart Classic – 44th annual event
🗓️ Sunday 26, from 10am
📍 Beechwood, NSW
ℹ️ Facebook page

From a reader: “With the main road closed from 8:30am and parking at a premium, it's worth getting there early as the kids event usually starts at 10:00am with the main race finishing at about 11:30am

 🚗🛝 After years of contention, the concept design for Crescent Head has finally been approved 🏄‍♀️🛹

Crescent Head Foreshore

Following years of controversy, community engagement and various proposed plans, the final concept design for the Crescent Head foreshore and Willow Street precincts has been approved.

❓What happened: On Tuesday, Kempsey Shire Councillors adopted the Crescent Head Foreshore Concept Design following a collaborative process between council, the Crescent Head Foreshore Community Advisory Group (the CAG), and the wider community.

🏡 Local impacts: The balance between car parking and green space has been the key point of contention over the years.

  • The approved redesign includes more parking spots than what currently exists and only slightly less green space, as well as pedestrian crossings, a surf-check zone, playground, skate park, and a space for markets.

FORESHORE & SURF BREAK PARK CONCEPT PLAN. Kempsey Shire Council

WILLOW STREET & KILLICK CREEK CONCEPT PLAN. Kempsey Shire Council

🤝 (Almost) complete agreement: All except for one member of the community advisory group agreed to collectively support the final design.

  • A staff report brought to council noted that one member of the group who did not support the plan believed the CAG should be supporting more ocean-facing carparking as a response to survey feedback on the matter.

🗣️What are people saying? Member of the Save Crescent Head Point Car Park community group, Maria Johnson, said she is “stoked” the group were able to save the carpark as a result of five years of advocacy.

  • “We stopped council’s plans to remove the point car park completely, we stopped council’s plans for cabins in the eastern end of the point,” Johnson told the Mid North Coaster. “We lobbied hard for the eastern end of the holiday park to be included in the footprint for the foreshore redesign.”

  • “We saved the carpark and now we have a plan that caters for current and future demands.”

⏰ What’s next: Council staff will explore funding avenues for the detailed design and construction of the plan. The project may need to be staged and could take several years to complete.

The staff report states the concept design is subject to changes during the detailed design process as a result of a further feasibility review.

🤝 Meet the locals: Bellingen

I met this gentleman on the main street of Bellingen last week and asked him about his favourite place to eat, favourite walk, what services were missing and what he loved about living in the area. Here’s what he said…

🧐Just how historic is South West Rocks' Heritage Guest House and Cafe?

Growing up at South West Rocks, I remember getting fluffy pancakes with ice cream and maple syrup from the Heritage Cafe as a kid. Only on special occasions, of course.

Three decades on, the cafe still stands and remains a popular venue for the coastal village’s visitors and locals. It hasn’t changed too much in all this time, especially not the facade. The attached Guest House also remains the same.

Phil Lee, from the Macleay River Historical Society (MRHS), spoke to the Mid North Coaster and explained the deep history of the iconic spot.

(L) The Pacific Guest House Image: Pat Riggs Collection, MRHS (R) The Heritage Cafe and Guest House as it stands today. Image: Heritage Beachside Cafe Instagram.

📍The land passed through hands: What is now known as the Heritage Guest House and Cafe was once just a plot of land on Livingstone Street, on which the guest house was originally built. The land belonged to Rebecca Lawson, a niece of builder John Lawson, who in 1886 sold it to John Meazey, a contractor at Trial Bay Gaol. 

💍 An engagement called off: Romance soon followed the property exchange, as Meazey and Ms Lawson announced their engagement to be married and started to build a future home on the Livingstone Street land. However, the engagement was called off during the early stages of construction. 

💰New owner: The property was then bought by William Arthur, a farmer at Spencers Creek, who completed the building for himself. 

The days of the Jubilee Guest House with the Arthur family in the front doorway.
Image: Dulcie Bowden Collection, MRHS

🛏️ Accommodation: In 1887, Arthur left his farm to open the building as an accommodation house, naming it Royal Jubilee House after Queen Victoria’s Jubilee that year. 

  • Jubilee House quickly became established as the North Coast’s top accommodation houses. 

  • Arthur would meet steamer boats at Jerseyville wharf and bring guests, through the sandy scrub, to his accommodation house.

🌲 Another bit of history: Arthur was responsible for planting the Norfolk Island Pines in Livingstone Street.

🏠 Change of name: Sometime after 1920, Arthur leased out the guest house and it  became known by the name of Pacific Guest House. 

The Pacific Guest House Image: Pat Riggs Collection, MRHS.

☕️ The Cafe: In 1925, the lessee was Fred Tyne who built a billiard room as a new attraction for South West Rocks. This room later became the Heritage Beachside Café.

🤝 Sold again: Tyne purchased the property from Arthur’s widow following the longstanding owner’s death in 1933.

® ️National Trust: The Pacific Guest House, now known as The Heritage Guest House, is now registered by the National Trust as a rare example of a seaside accommodation house once common along the coast.

📍 Where’s this on the Mid North Coast?

As promised, here’s the answer…

Thanks to everyone who plays along and sends in their guesses!!

📢 Call out for November events

I’ll be posting the monthly “what’s on” content next week, so if you know of any community, kid-friendly, and live music events you’d like to see included, please reply to this email with the details.

Thanks for reading! I’ll be back next week with more stories and videos.
If you don’t already, follow the Mid North Coaster on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, or check the website to keep up to date with local news.

Have a great weekend,

👋 Ellie

P.S. A reader wrote in to say: “Hello, my son has set up a Lego mini figures hunt in Port Macquarie with local businesses to raise funds for his cousin who has been diagnosed with MEF2C syndrome. His aunt and uncle have set up a foundation to raise for research.”

See below ⬇️