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FUTURE ACCESS?
- Existing and aspiring
bushwalkers
and their clubs (and all others interested in the promotion of healthy
recreation in this State) need to be vigilant:
The
Department of Water (DoW) in 2007 published
recommendations on
water catchment access, which
if
left
unchallenged, would in effect have barred walking within most traditional
bushwalking areas within
the Perth region other than along the Bibbulmun Track (see map). Walking in most areas
featured
on WalkGPS would have been labelled an
"unacceptable activity"
and traditional bushwalking across most of the region
would have been consigned to history. Ironically this has been at a time
when there is a great need recognised by the community and some W.A. State
Government departments to encourage all Western Australians to walk more and to
develop environments in which the decision to walk is easier ("Walk
WA").
The DoW recommendations on bushwalking were inconsistent with its position on
other similarly healthy, though more intensely 'off-track' activities within the
catchments. DoW assigns to those similar activities a "Low" management priority
and ongoing 'conditional' access.
Meanwhile
widespread
State forestry and bauxite mining operations will also continue across
those same catchments that were considered by DoW to be inappropriate for low
impact, off-track bushwalking.
See
WalkGPS 'Parks, Reserves & State Forests' map (61KB
pdf).
 Bushwalkers
and the broader community recognise the obvious need to protect drinking water
quality, but they also expect our State regulators to show objectivity and
balance. Desired levels of 'protection' should be rational, not totally
disproportionate to actual or perceived risks to water quality. The 'precautionary
principle', while very relevant to the issues of
climate change, is now also widely
cited by regulators such as DoW to justify excessive control policies. Internationally-respected applications
of that principle recognise that a zero risk objective is unrealistic and
unsustainable.
WalkGPS does not
represent any lobby group, but I strongly urge any
bushwalking groups or individuals to take an active interest in the ongoing issues
to help ensure that sensible access is maintained for traditional
bushwalking activities into the future.
- Dave
Osborne
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DoW has said: This
is
"Acceptable.." |
...and this is
"Acceptable.." |
...BUT, this is
"Unacceptable.." |
ALSO SEE:
-
"Bauxite
Mining in Jarrah Forests",
Roger Underwood, a former General Manager of W.A. Department of Conservation
and Land Management (CALM), 8 Aug. 2007 (blog posting). Also: Land-use
Issues.
-
WalkGPS video, "Bannister Hill -once was a Conservation Park" - for
an example of the current and future impacts of bauxite mining.
-
Related access issues,
on WalkGPS. Also:
3D perspective on disappearing walking opportunities.
-
Submission to Inquiry into Recreation Activities within Public Drinking
Water Source Areas,
D.G. Osborne (WalkGPS),
24 Nov. 2009. (9MB pdf; submission released by approval of inquiry
Committee).
-
"Greater access to water catchments to be explored", Ministerial
statements, Sept. 2009.
-
"Too many recreation areas closed to public" (from
“The West Australian”, 2 February
2008), and
"Keeping off the track"
(from “The
West Australian”, 13 December 2007); articles
confirming
a groundswell of support for
'WARSTA' (WA Recreation, Sport, Tourism Alliance)
from diverse recreational groups (e.g. Action Outdoors, the Bibbulmun Track
Foundation, Munda Biddi Trail, The Federation of West Australian
Bushwalkers, W.A. Sports Federation, and UWA Outdoor Club) with the aim of
convincing the relevant State Government Minister to over-rule the DoW
recommendations.
-
Recreational Access to Drinking Water Catchments and Storages in Australia,
CRC for Water Quality and Treatment, Research Report # 24, 2006
(ISBN 1876616482); WalkGPS commentary.
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Access to Water Catchment Areas for Traditional Bushwalking Activities,
Draft Position Paper by Federation of Western Australian Bushwalkers Inc.,
May 2007.
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'COBBERS' (Citizens Opposed to Bureaucratic Bullying and Excessive
Regulation).
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Who Will Regulate the Regulators?
(from "The Times
Online", 29 October 2007).
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