Thousands of four-wheel-drive enthusiasts rallied at Kooragang Island today in what police say was one of the biggest ever moving convoys in Australia.
They were protesting against temporary closures to Stockton Beach Sand Dunes.
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This could have been better covered by the media concidering Stockton to cessnock was cutoff.
It was at Stockton, the Overflow went to Kooragang Island, and there is nothing temporary about the closures… Go out to the dunes and have a look… Its permanent.
This is what you get when the Greens are pushing policy. They are Watermelons Green on the outside but red to the core.
DON’T VOTE GREEN AT NEXT FEDERAL ELELECTION
Some people are saying that the 4WDs and campers damage the ecosystem on Stockton Beach. What a load of hog wash that is.
The Stockton dunes are made entirely of beach sand that has been pushed by prevailing winds up the beach and created a dune system that actually took over and destroyed the adjacent bush and wetlands. To call the Sockton Dunes an ecosystem is preposterous!
It’s a sand dune system that changes like the weather. It has changed and been visited by many for hundreds of years.
Now because a number of small lakes have formed within the dunes and some vegetation has grown due to seeds from bird droppings, some people call it an ecosystem! It is not an ecosystem! If we get some dry weather, the lakes will dry up and the plants die off, if we get a lot of rain then it floods, if we get big seas then it washes away some of the sand. Sure a few animals come and go from there, but it is primarily a random dune system that changes from day to day, month to month & year to year.
To say that 4wd’ing and camping there destroys the place is just ludicrous! It is sand! Sure a car will leave a track behind and lots of cars will make the tracks deeper, but when it rains and the winds blow, these tracks get covered over again very quickly. The human impact is only temporary, unlike when a track is made through a forest for example.
The only real, legitimate concern I can see is rubbish being left behind by some campers, but again this can easily be removed. So long as people abide by the rules, speed limits, leave the place as they found it and look out for the safety of others, the idiots will be a very small minority and policing the beach is easy.
NPWS, please stop making up stories and commit some resources to managing this wonderful leisure time place for all Australians to enjoy, both now and in the future, for our future generations to enjoy just as past and present generations have.
If the national parks where genuinely concerned about the Eco system
Of the sand dunes why don’t they close down the sand mines and stop selling all the sand
What they are also failing to mention – that they are still letting the tour operators out on the dunes – I would think that they would cause just as much – if not more damage than the average recreational 4 x 4 enthusiast.
This protest was held on a very wet day and there around 5000-6000 4wd’s turned up and an estimated 15000 people, if it was dry there would have been a lot more.
Does this not show that we are passionate and committed to what we believe is a right to take our families out into the Australian outdoors.
This has been called “The Australian Way” for decades so what right has anyone to take that away.
There are National Parks all over Australia that now have gates to stop people getting in to enjoy them, funny that these gates only stop the honest people which is the majority of us. That’s discriminating against honest tax payers…..
Stockton Beach is mostly closed to us honest taxpayers and the closed area’s are still being used by tour operators and quad bike hire companies (who pay for this priviliage) and then there is the sand mining….
I would have thought that by closing everything but the beach front track to normal 4wd’s that would mean more traffic on these tracks and cause more damage to them.
It’s a real pity that this was not included in the news feature so the public could have understood the truth behind it instead of what they would have got from the short half story they saw.
the tour operators travel on private & Aboriginal land, the small areas that actually drive is from Anna Bay to the land, they pay the actual Land Owner for the right to bring in tourists, the Sand mines are in another area of Stockton not owned nor controlled by NPWS although they do border each other, I am a 4wd’er & hate greenies & love Stockton but you guys just dribble, get your facts straight before you ramble on, besides the damaged front beach which is appx 80% gone from a winter storm most of the areas you seem to feel you are locked out from has always been closed to you & me, if you look at the map you get it clearly shows where you are & are not allowed to be in but most jockies go to these areas anyway like it is there given right, the damage they are talking about is to the front beach, it will take summer storms to help repair the beach but that 20% left was now taking 80% of the traffic, the beach would take years to fix itself instead of the 7 months so far, the real worry is at the moment is winter isnt that far away & the beach hasnt fixed itself enough if another big winter storm smashes it, so I am happy enough to stay away from it for a little longer it I can get back on there & enjoy it with my kids again, contrary to popular belief it will not be shut for long, it has been damaged far worse in the past but less 4 wd’s aroumd then, less rubbish left behind etc
So where did you get your facts from, mine came from the protest yesterday so you are saying that 15000 people are wrong. Is that even your real name or are you just hiding behind you keyboard.
I have driven the tracks behind the dune front and been to “Tin City” and believe that is all closed off.
I have seen the sand mining from the tops of the dunes we were parked on at the time.
NBN – Thanks for covering the story, albeit it wasn’t the full story and the context was a tad off so the general public still has no real idea of what the rally was actually about…. Yesterday 4000+ 4wd vehicles & around 15,000 people held a peaceful protest rally to voice the concerns of our community & every day Australians over the continued closure of tracks & restricted beach access by NPWS … It was a phenomenal turnout & exceeded the expectations of the organisers… Although the number of supporters was large the questions now being asked is “Is NPWS sensitive enough to even notice the passion felt by every single person that was present?” “Has this protest rally made an impact on NPWS?” .. honestly I, and many others think the answer to both questions is NO… this is only the beginning, yesterday we showed that we are not a minority group, the 4wd community is now planning our next move to gain national exposure on these issues… I hope you the NPWS is ready for the impact we plan to cause to get our message across… we WILL NOT roll over & let them lock us out of OUR parks & beaches, this is OUR country & we all have a right to access these areas!
Parks say they need to manage the park well do so, managing doesn’t include lock us out. Let them close one park they will close them all. Good on roothy and everyone who was there. This is our country don’t lock us out. U continue to put gates up people will rip them down, that’s the way things will go. Bloody greenies behind this. It’s our right to be able to go out 4wding and camping. U wonder why kids sit at home and play playstations because ur forcing them too.