Newcastle News

DRIVERS SEETHING OVER STOCKTON SAND DUNES

Anger is growing among four-wheel-drive enthusiasts over the lack of access to the Stockton sand dunes.

A protest organised for next month has received so much support, it’s had a change of location to cater for the expected turnout.

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17 Comments

  1. I think it should be left open as a 4wd owner and enthusiast I believe we are running out of places to camp or 4wd …. its sad that so many places are closing down
    How can we get our kids off the Xbox or PlayStation with out these places to take them

  2. Pissed off , if we cant camp and most of the beach is off limits and fenced off how come the permits to drive on the beach to begin with havent come down in price its not the money its the bloody princible,parks ad local councils need to work somethin out quick or they will loose one of the east coasts bigest 4wd and outdoor enthuists areas to explore, and as a local to the area this is my playground, i can sit out all night in my chair fishing but the moment you go take a quick kip in the truck ! Bang ! Here mate have a fine , no camping permited, its complete crap. Rant over see yous all at the meet .

  3. To who this may concern…..from what I hear on telly about Stockton beach restrictions, is a joke…ok let’s be realists, we all know that tidal storms, high strong winds, and the like, impact on the area, yes it does. And so do 4wds, but I can’t see more than tracks in the sand by a 4wd a problem, the wind will cover it anyway… So for a bloke or lady to traverse on the sand, takes a lot of skill, patients, experience, and most of all, the love of the great outdoors. We are bigger greenies than he green party, cause, were out there with our families weekly driving in the bsh or on the beach. In our group of friends, we all love camping by the beach with our kids and wife’s, we all tread lightly, take our rubbish out , c’mon please don’t let afew bad eggs spoil this part of the world for a lot of us mature 4wds……..”

  4. This is just the beginning, next are marine parks through the keep Australia fishing.
    It is time to take a stand together and let the politicians know that we vote and we won’t stand by and watch the npws stopping us from seeing our country.

  5. If the group took the effort & realised that Stockton Beach area is PRIVATE property & is managed by NPWS on behalf of the Worimi Land owners.
    Where were these members of the public when the public were asked for submissions on the management of our National Parks. The input & submissions are heavily biased by submissions from the conservationists. The review panels are heavily biased in the same direction. Maybe a longterm commitment by the whingers to work for access could result in some results. Protests and whinging can be ignored.
    The major problem is the overuse by those who donot respect the free access given to them. The growth of use & lack of funding to track maintenace is the reason for closures.

  6. Stockton beach has been there for thousands of years, closing it for 8 months is not going to do a great deal – let nature take its course!!!!
    The dunes will be there for hundreds of years more…….somehow the National Parks think they are gonna fix the loss of sand …..due to a bit of bad weather…..GET use to it- our records go back about 100 years ….this beach has been here 1000’s of years …and has most likely had much more of a beating! The NP’s are really hurting themselves and their reputation..!!! We need to get the politicians in NSW to give the NP’s fellas a wake up call!

  7. WHAT A JOKE . this is just another move by councils to bleed an already dying public . The authority that these organisations have is clearly to much and a balance needs to be restored

  8. This is why we are protesting! 8 months is going to do bugger all! Nature is nature. So what every time there’s a storm or some type of natural beating, it gets closed?! It’s a joke!

  9. For all the people complaining about places being restricted and wanting to go to this magazine sales rally, where the hell are you when there is work to be done cleaning up the areas and helping the NPWS keep them clean Turn up and do some real help and things might be different You only have yourselves to blame.

  10. Get over it, you can drive on the sand, just not on the dunes which isn’t a big deal, look at all the accidents there have been as a result of dune driving. But allowing camping again would be nice.

  11. please see our rally today at stockton line is from stockton to kurri kurri . you should be getting this on the news tonight

  12. to warren we are there on clean up thankyou very much and is not a magazine rally it’s a person that has a passion for australia. but you take the money from the commercial operators. and to fez we are talking about camping as well, this is just NPWS first step to closure. the accidents are just accidents from teenagers which happens all ova australia. Roothy go for it mate we are all behind you. And pay our FEE’S to use this australian icon.

  13. People despit worimi owing ths land this is classic NPWS stuff . They were also pushingf o closues in the Myal lakes national parks many years ago an acted corruptly back then , photos in in circulation of buried NPWS old equipment which they dug the hole for . In terms of cleaning up the place I also have been involved in the dedicated clean up days with my family and taken plenty away , unfortunately theres a small element of clowns that do the wrong thing for NPWS this becomes a moral panic point from which they can hitch their propaganda wagon and achieve wht their green little souls set out to do . These people have mismanaged parks and funds , funds hat we had to work for , paid taxes on , so should I have to work for access ? Wake up bozo you cllown , make the bloody NPWS paid officers work for it .as for the weather It happens year in year out and any one with even A remote level of intelligence knows what gets washed out and blown away one day comes back the next . The bech has been there and appears to have survived without Robert quirk and his band of merry men . We want responsible access , camp with our children under the stars , get sand in our sausage Sanga and go home smiling . NPWS I hope you go broke and can’t recover , because if you listened to the public and constructed a Solid management plan you could play around with your public funded land cruisers and just maybe make some coin .

  14. First of all, I’d like to say how disappointed I am in the News Report. The rally was focused on Stockton Beach issue, but the main issue is the systematic lock outs from our bush access both state and country-wide by NPWS. This was no magazine push as one ill informed person has mentioned. The reason for the lock out of the dune system at Stockton by NPWS is based on Worimi heritage. I wonder how much of that is true? Sand comes and sand goes where ever the wind blows it and the waves carry it. Worimi people are also being locked out i bet. NPWS are looking for the tiniest reason to lock up access to vast tracks of bush, all in the name of conservation. What a joke. A balanced view is required here.

  15. There is a lot of misinformation in the above messages, well done to the aboriginal community for making hard decisions to protect this landscape, if the previous managers had done there job the beach would be in a much better state…. Hay remember what the beach was like 20 yrs ago….before all the 4WDing… Let’s get it back … Thank you NPWS for helping worimi.

  16. Can’t help myself… Many of the access restrictions to NPWS is via over riding legislation… Either water catchment (another state gov agency) and world heritage (commonwealth legislation). NPWS does have wilderness legislation..this is over the rugger end country that has next to no trails…. Please take the time to educate yourself…. Ps..yes I am a 4WDer, and fisher and I don’t mind a bit of deer hunting….

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