NSW NPWS support requests to close the Mt Warning Summit hike

In January we sent the letter below to the NSW Premier requesting her "Liberal" Government provide assurances that access to the summit of Mt Warning will remain open to all and not be banned in the future.

Today we finally received a response, not from the Premier but from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. No assurances have been given and the prospect of the summit walk being closed remains a reality. Incredulously NSW NPWS, an agency funded by all NSW residents to look after our National Parks for ALL of us, provide support for the closure. "The local Aboriginal Elders requested that people not climb the summit due to its cultural significance. The NPWS support this request through signage on the Summit Walking Track."

The language being used is very similar to that used at Ayers Rock. This language only serves to cause confusion and antagonises the public. To our great sadness, in their signage NSW NPWS do not mention anything positive about the summit walk, or encourage visitors to complete the climb. The views are among the best from any summit on the east coast, and the walk itself is a real adventure, which is why over 100,000 people make the climb each year.

The 2010 Uluru -Kata Tjuta Park management plan provided for the Ayers Rock climb to be closed. This plan slipped through despite opposition of the then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and the then opposition leader Malcom Turnbull. In 2016 the current government gave assurances that the Ayers Rock climb would not be closed, and yet due to the success of myth and superstition over common sense, it will be closed next year.

With NSW NPWS openly supporting a closure and not encouraging climbing, there remains a very real chance that the walk up Mt Warning will end up the same way as the Ayers Rock climb. All it will take is for one bureaucrat to quietly write the paragraph and insert it as an amendment to the current plan, thereby amputating another beautiful part of the country off from public access.

Keep an eye open on any proposed amendments to the management plan for the area that could make this a sad reality, and if you see any notification of any proposed changes please get in touch.

Make sure your local politicians receive a clear message that these wonderful natural places remain open to all Australians to enjoy and not just a select few.

Comments

Mount Warning: Aboriginal claims about summit climb are contested

"How can the public experience the spiritual significance of this land if they do not climb the summit and witness creation." Ngaraakwal Elder Marlene Boyd RIP NSW NPWS have the following description about Aboriginal attitudes to people climbing to the summit of Mt Warning on their webpage about the walking track: Wollumbin, which means ‘cloud catcher’ to some Aboriginal People, is a traditional place of cultural law, initiation and spiritual education for the people of the Bundjalung Nation. Under Bundjalung law, only certain people can climb the summit. Out of respect for their law and culture, consider not climbing the summit. These claims, including the very name applied to the mountain, are contested and it seems there is another story that NSW NPWS have not properly acknowledged and have long kept from public attention. We came across this article from the Daily News February 24 2007 about Ngaraakwal Elder Marlene Boyd that makes for interesting reading. ...

17th death on the Rock

17th death on the Rock ABC report that a 76 year old Japanese man collapsed on the steep part of the climb and despite first aid, was not able to be revived. The elderly Japanese man likely died as a result of heart complications, probably brought on by existing (perhaps unknown) medical conditions and over exerting himself. He appears to have died revelling in the opportunity life provides. RIP Brother of the Rock. Our thoughts with his family and the first attenders who did their best to treat him. It's sad, but life goes on, and so should the climb. His death marks the 17th death ON the Rock since 26 May 1962 when 16 year old school boy Brian Strieff, on a school excursion with Carey Grammar, wondered off the main path in heavy fog on the way down and fell to his death. ABC's report indicate it is the 37th death, but these figures from Parks Australia have not been substantiated. It seems that many of the deaths Parks Australia claim to have occurred ON the Rock occurr...

Mt Warning closure - 4 years of lies and misinformation

Mt Warning closure - 4 years of lies and misinformation March 30 (Easter Saturday) marks the 4-year anniversary of the "temporary" closure of the Mt Warning summit track. Some thoughts and rambled musings below. I spoke with Ben Fordham about the anniversary on the Ben Fordham Breakfast show on 2GB. Ben's response a classic: "If you want to climb, just climb it!" Link to that interview HERE . 4 year anniversary of bureaucratic madness We know the exact date of the closure thanks to bushwalker: Tertia Starr Maynard, who posted a photo of a note left on her windscreen by NPWS rangers to the reopen Facebook page . It was dated and read “NPWS advises Wollumbin National Park is closing from today due to covid19. Gate is not locked but please close behind you as you exit. Thanks NPWS.” Photo by T Maynard - the last walkers out. In the 4 years since, after other parks were reopened, Mt Warning remained closed and the reason for the temporary closure morphed to in...

Right to Climb

Search This Blog