Ballina Information Blog

The death knell may have been sounded for Ballina’s Big Prawn following last week’s council decision, but its fate continues to be a mystery.

Ballina Shire Council last week approved an application to demolish the petrol station which is home to the Prawn, reigniting debate over its future.

The Courier Mail website reported that ‘the Gold Coast Fishermen’s Co-Operative has expressed interest in buying the attraction to promote its trawler-direct seafood outlet on the Southport Spit, although that idea is on the nose with local tourism officials who believe it would be a crass eyesore’.

Developer Chris Condon has previously said that he would be interested in buying it and moving it to the new service centre to be built near the new bypass on the southern approach to town.

And now Ballina Shire councillor Sharon Cadwallader has floated the idea of moving the prawn into the Richmond River or even Shaws Bay and making it a water attraction for tourists.

Along the way, thousands of people have had their say on the Prawn. There’s a Facebook page devoted to saving it, and even one devoted to killing it.

Amid all the hype, Ballina Shire councillors have copped a bagging for being the villains who killed the Big Prawn and robbed Ballina of a major tourist attraction.

This is unfair, because the Big Prawn is privately owned and its owner has other plans for the Prawn complex.

No doubt he sees a limited future for the complex, which most likely would become unprofitable in its present form once the bypass is completed.

Had the council not approved his DA, it would have set an alarming precedent for anyone wishing to redevelop land that they own, and possibly led to legal challenges (which could be costly for Ballina Shire ratepayers).

The possible loss of the Prawn has set Ballina Info thinking about a possible replacement Big Thing for the town.

Unfortunately, the Big Pelican is taken (Noosa). So is the Big Crab (Miriam Vale in Queensland).

In fact, Australia’s liking of Big Things makes it a tough choice to come up with a replacement.

There’s a website devoted to Australia’s Big Things, and it makes for interesting reading.

There are the obvious, such as Banana, Barramundi, Bull, Cassowary, Croc, Galah, Koala, Macadamia, Murray Cod, Orange (there’s actually three of those across the nation), Pineapple (two of those) and Peanut.

Then there’s the not-so-obvious: Big Arch of Victory, Big Axe, Big Bottle, Big Cheese, Big Chook (definitely Australian!), Big Easel, Big Gumboot, Big Milkshake, Big Ned Kelly, Big Stubbie and Big Wine Cask.

So are there any Ballina Info readers out there who can come up with a suitable replacement Big Thing for Ballina? And where should we locate it?

Oh, and by the way, we did find our favourite Big Thing in Australia.

It’s the Big Rocking Horse, located on the main road in Gumeracha, South Australia. “Appropriately located by an expansive Toy Factory, the Rocking Horse stands 18.3m high and contains three observation decks!” the Big Things website says.

So what’s the attraction of the Big Rocking Horse for us?

We reckon a Big Rocking Horse would be as rare as Big Rocking Horse s…!

FOOTNOTE: It might seem un-Australian that someone with a warped sense of humour hasn’t constructed a Big Thong, but given the wider world’s description of a thong, perhaps a Big Thong could be a bit embarrassing for the nation!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 3:40 pm and is filed under Ballina. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.