Looking for shelter and relief from the heat, there was one place to be for Launceston residents: Gravelly Beach.

The recently-opened Anzac Park - a combined effort of the locals - offered brand new play equipment for the growing tourism market. A refreshing dip in the Tamar was just a short walk from the main drag.

"Accommodation was at a premium, and all available camping sites were utilised," The Examiner reported.

"The swing-boats and merry-go-round on Anzac Park were well patronised, and it is anticipated that before next summer many new facilities will be made available to the public."

The growing availability of cars had turned the picturesque location into an easy day trip from Launceston, while the Rowitta river steamer ferried visitors back and forth.

The Examiner regularly held its Empty Stocking Fund picnic at Gravelly Beach, sometimes attracting 400 children. The Launceston Tramway Sports Club also packed out the town every year.

Newspapers report the tourists that flocked to the town in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, and it reached the pinnacle of Tasmanian tourism: it was a shack town.

But in the 1970s, a new type of ricegrass was used in the Tamar in an attempt to absorb the worsening contamination from Launceston's combined sewerage system. But the ricegrass soon escaped control and found ideal conditions on the river's banks.

Gravelly Beach was right in the line of fire, and soon it was inundated. The beaches were no more and, soon after, the tourist numbers slowed and the shacks disappeared.

In an attempt to turn around the town's fortunes, an ambitious plan was hatched to build a spacious public park along the entire main foreshore to Anzac Park, constructed on top of the ricegrass with a rock wall border at the water's edge. Material and volunteer contractors were in ready supply, and Rose Bay Park was created near the boat ramp.

The pontoon itself was added with the help of the Port of Launceston Authority - but that's where it seemed to end.

It became impossible to simply utilise volunteer labour and donated dirt to create parks under modern day regulations.

And so today, Gravelly Beach is as inundated with ricegrass as ever, and while Rose Bay Park has helped to attract visitors, the town is still well short of its potential, locals say.

"Just look out over the river, you can't get a better view of the Tamar anywhere else," tireless campaigner Barry Blenkhorn said.

"The whole point of our work was to enhance the river for water sports. Eventually we wanted to have a freshwater lake here.

"It could be the best regatta ground in Northern Tasmania."

Last year, at long last, the campaigning of locals started to bear fruit.

During the last federal election campaign, Tasmanian Nationals senator Steve Martin promised $2 million to upgrade the Gravelly Beach foreshore.

A few months later, West Tamar Council released plans for public comment.

They featured a new public pontoon and, significantly, a new park to be constructed on top of the ricegrass in front of the strip of shops, bordered by a rock wall, and with a recreation and picnic area. A viewing platform was proposed for the northern end.

The reclaimed area covers just a small portion of the ricegrass stretching along the foreshore, and Anzac Park would remain a dog park.

The plans were consulted on and the council deemed the community was satisfied. The signing of the deeds to obtain the funding could occur in a matter of weeks.

But Mr Blenkhorn believed they lacked ambition. He said the community could source its own material to use on top of the rice grass, and that volunteer contractors were ready to lend a hand.

Then the $2 million could be used to create a vastly bigger park, possibly stretching all the way to Anzac Park, he said.

"The community is ready and willing to help," Mr Blenkhorn said.

He was concerned that road overburden - or excess dirt and material - from a nearby road construction project would instead be provided to private housing developers, when it could instead be put to public use at Gravelly Beach.

"It's public material, why put it into private hands?" he said.

West Tamar Council mayor Christina Holmdahl said Rose Bay Park was clearly a fantastic asset for Gravelly Beach, but the way in which it was built could not occur with modern environmental laws.

She said the council's plans had been widely consulted upon and the community seemed happy with it.

"The reality is it was a process that we did community consultation on, and the majority of the community supported the plans that council has," Cr Holmdahl said.

"The next step is that we finalise the plans with the people who did the design work, and we then proceed.

"As a council, we're very open to anybody's ideas. If Gravelly Beach wants something, I'm more than happy to come to their meetings."

The future vision for the Gravelly Beach foreshore could include a sculpture park, although Mr Blenkhorn will continue campaigning for a larger park and, eventually, a fresh water lake to allow full use of the Tamar.