Regular users of Lighthouse Beach are mourning the quiet removal of something Ballina Shire Council may have considered insignificant  – but to many locals, it was both practical and precious.

A small, timber change shelter near the surf club at the northern end of the beach was recently demolished as part of a wider upgrade.

To the untrained eye, it may have looked like little more than four weathered posts, four wooden walls and a door. But to a group of loyal locals, it was a humble, well-loved part of “old Ballina”.

“It was simple,” says Gina Witchard, “but it worked.”

Gina and her beach-loving friends – Pauline Fingleton, Julie Thomas and Beverley Bill  -had made the shelter part of their daily routine.

It offered just enough privacy to change into swimmers, keep modesty intact, and hang a towel on the hooks inside. A little ritual. A quiet convenience. A nod to simpler times.

Then came the news: Council was removing it, citing concerns about “bad behaviour”. The ladies were told there’d been reports of shenanigans inside. 

 “Nefarious activity” was the phrase someone used, Gina says.

“But we find that hard to believe.  It was hardly private. If you were really up to no good, there are plenty of other places nearby that would’ve offered a lot more cover than that little shed.”

Gone now is the change hut – and gone, too, is the ease of slipping out of streetwear and into swimmers with a bit of dignity. 

The surf club next door, they point out, has toilets – but no public change rooms. Only members, who pay $80 a year, have access to those.

“We’re not going to get changed in a toilet,” says Beverley. “There are no hooks, no benches. It’s not what they’re for.”

When they asked the council where people were supposed to get changed now, the response wasn’t exactly what they wanted to hear.

“They told us to use the surf club change rooms,” Gina recalls, “but I’m not joining a club just to get into my swimsuit.”

With winter now upon them, most of the women are taking a seasonal break from swimming.  But they’ll be back in spring — with beach towels in hand, ready to master the classic Aussie towel-change maneuver.  One hand on the cozzies, one holding the cover and awkwardly hoping nobody is really watching anyway.

They’re not alone. While Ballina News Daily was leaving, a visiting tourist was spotted pulling off the well-known “door-and-towel” trick in the car park, using his vehicle as makeshift privacy.

“It must be the only town beach on the east coast without a proper change facility,” he said. “Lucky I don’t come here often.”

For Gina and the others, the loss stings not just because of the inconvenience, but because it feels like something older and gentler has been pushed aside.

“It wasn’t fancy. But it was part of this place,” she said. “And now it’s gone – and no one thought it was worth saving.”

Main Photo: Gina Witchard points to where the humble shelter used to be at Lighthouse Beach