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xsi
21st February 2006, 12:55 PM
Just saw this on the Overlander site.
Apparently its doing the rounds of the the 4WD clubs.

XSI

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Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have just come back from another beautiful few days at Paxina having discovered yet another threat to our recreation.

The Colong Foundation have a proposal before the Government for an extension to the Gardens of Stone National Park from its current 11,000 hectares by a further 49,000 hectares (!!). Their proposal is to close off by locked gates the Newnes Plateau (the track from Ben Bullen to the Newnes Road with the lookout over the Newnes Valley), the Lost City , the track across the Wolgan River ("Spanish Steps") and all the area behind Col Ribaux's place (next to us). That would mean no access to the Grotto, the Diamond Mines or Genowlan Mountain. They also are proposing "restricted access" to the Airley Ruins, which is even more worrying - ie, the only people allowed in there will be bushwalkers. This area has been accessible for years with no degradation. In fact, thanks to the efforts of Col Ribaux, a lot of the ruins have been cleared from the encroaching bush so that the local schoolchildren can get in to see their heritage. A locked gate is also proposed for the track that leads past the end of the ruins track and down into the Capertee Valley. As this is a public road, there may be a bit of opposition to this.

A meeting has been called to register opposition for 11 am on Saturday, March 11th at a place called Bill's Bunkhouse at Macdonalds Hole, just north of Capertee. To get there, drive about 11 kilometres north of Capertee towards Mudgee and look for a sign pointing to the right to "Bill's Bunkhouse" and follow that road for about 5 kilometres. It should take about 3 to 3 and a half hours to get there from Sydney, so you don't have to get up too early in the morning!!

This is one of the last areas that is available for day trips from Sydney and most of it is still in good condition.

Please pass this on to as many fellow travellers as you can and be at the meeting yourself.

See you there,

Patrick

PATRICK SUTCLIFFE
Australian Representative
Land Rover Enthusiast Magazine

PO Box 1096,
Wahroonga NSW 2076,
Australia
+61 (0) 2 9489 3756
+61 (0) 2 9989 8325 Fax
patrick.sutcliffe@landroverenthusiast.com

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XSI

Omaroo
21st February 2006, 01:12 PM
To put it in context - they (the Colong Foundation) are trying to stop a proposed sand mining operation in the Newnes area - not 4WDers persee. We are just going to get caught in the crossfire as they do refer to "4WD hooligans" at one point.

http://www.colongwilderness.org.au/mining/...quarry_cpgn.htm (http://www.colongwilderness.org.au/mining/quarry_cpgn.htm)

Click to see their page.

Ace
21st February 2006, 02:55 PM
See the Gardens of Stone 2 proposal thread Ron started. There is a meeting at Bills Bunkhouse on the highway between Mudgee and Lithgow on the 11th of March which many 4wd clubs are attending, i would urge that anyone who can make it for the day can come, you are welcome to stay at my place on the friday night and follow me on the saturday morning. If this goes ahead we will loose many of the good tracks in the area, namely the Spanish Steps and the Mt Airley track. Matt