willem
23rd July 2009, 10:51 AM
G'day guys,
In response to an article in the Geelong Advertiser regarding damage to the the Otways, I sent this letter to the Editor:
* * * * *
Joan Lindros, in the Addy on 22 July, writes an about the damage done by trail bikes and four wheel drive cars in the Otways. While I too am distressed by the destruction caused, I can but wonder why this is happening. Very many of the tracks in the Otways have been closed, some on a seasonal basis and some on a permanent basis. If you give people no challenging tracks to go on they will go somewhere else.
Just a couple of weeks ago I wanted to take my brother who was visiting from Perth for a quiet drive through the Otways. I had been through Sharps Track, near Lorne, before and it is quite an easy track, not muddy or boggy at all, but it was closed till the end of October. When we went to look for other tracks we found that there are virtually no tracks aside from the main roads open in the Otways at all. And Joan wonders why people form their own tracks!
Joan reckons there should be more severe penalties. I reckon there should be more tracks available. I care about the bush environment, and I reckon it should be made available for people to visit and appreciate and enjoy their recreation. Open the bush up, let people have access to tracks that are of varying difficulty, and you will have much less of a problem with people trying to form their own tracks.
Willem Schultink
Highton
* * * * *
Now I reckon that the tracks should be open, but I also reckon that users of the forest should look after it. When we are out there please remember to leave it in as good a condition as you found it.
The Addy has not been very good at publishing readers' letters lately. There seems to be some sort of censorship going on, so I have also published it in my blog.
Letters to the Editor (http://www.australianstory.net.au/willemsblogs/?cat=9)
I will continue to publish all of my letters to the editor in my blog from now on.
Willem
In response to an article in the Geelong Advertiser regarding damage to the the Otways, I sent this letter to the Editor:
* * * * *
Joan Lindros, in the Addy on 22 July, writes an about the damage done by trail bikes and four wheel drive cars in the Otways. While I too am distressed by the destruction caused, I can but wonder why this is happening. Very many of the tracks in the Otways have been closed, some on a seasonal basis and some on a permanent basis. If you give people no challenging tracks to go on they will go somewhere else.
Just a couple of weeks ago I wanted to take my brother who was visiting from Perth for a quiet drive through the Otways. I had been through Sharps Track, near Lorne, before and it is quite an easy track, not muddy or boggy at all, but it was closed till the end of October. When we went to look for other tracks we found that there are virtually no tracks aside from the main roads open in the Otways at all. And Joan wonders why people form their own tracks!
Joan reckons there should be more severe penalties. I reckon there should be more tracks available. I care about the bush environment, and I reckon it should be made available for people to visit and appreciate and enjoy their recreation. Open the bush up, let people have access to tracks that are of varying difficulty, and you will have much less of a problem with people trying to form their own tracks.
Willem Schultink
Highton
* * * * *
Now I reckon that the tracks should be open, but I also reckon that users of the forest should look after it. When we are out there please remember to leave it in as good a condition as you found it.
The Addy has not been very good at publishing readers' letters lately. There seems to be some sort of censorship going on, so I have also published it in my blog.
Letters to the Editor (http://www.australianstory.net.au/willemsblogs/?cat=9)
I will continue to publish all of my letters to the editor in my blog from now on.
Willem