Master
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:
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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
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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
I will continue to publish all of my letters to the editor in my blog from now on.
Willem
Wizard
When the tracks around here are closed i never go on them but have seen gates ripped off, I still don't go down them as they are closed for a reason, To stop them being ripped up to much which i think is fair enough.
It is unfortunate that people do go through/around gates but as there is no other area for them they break the law. I think a dedicated area would help with keeping people of the other tracks. Just my opinion Cheers Brett
Master
G'day guys,
Well, my letter to the Geelong Advertiser was finally published on the 4th of August. After a response by someone who wants to keep all the tracks shut, I sent the following letter to the editor of the Addy today.
Willem
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T Trzeciak wonders why you would open up any tracks in the Otways, because he seems to think that people will willfully trash them (GA 15 August). The answer is obvious - the Otways belong to all of us. They do not belong to the few that want to close them down. They belong to all Australians.
His assertion that people will willfully damage them is an insult to the vast majority of people. Most people simply want to enjoy the forest. Last time we were on Sharps track earlier this year we stopped the car near a pond. I photographed, and my wife sat in rapt attention listening to the 'orchestra of frogs' at the pond. Is that willful destruction, T Trzeciak? What right to you have to say that I, and many others who want to enjoy the forest, may not enjoy it? You are in effect, stealing a facility from the Australian public by shutting the forest.
I know that the four wheel drive clubs love to go into the forest, and they appreciate the forest and want to look after it. Why not make it possible for them to do so? Enlist their help to keep the forest tracks open and in good condition. Ask them to remove old car wrecks. Ask them to map the weeds. Ask them to help repair tracks that are getting a bit rutted and worn. They love to be out there doing that sort of stuff. Don't ban them, but work with them!
A side benefit is that the tracks will remain open and in good condition for the fire fighters to use when there are bushfires. Not closed and overgrown and often impassable like they are now. The general public will appreciate it too!
The bush belongs to all of us and we should have proper access to it. Open the tracks up so we can enjoy the bush properly!
Willem Schultink
Highton
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Master
X2Originally Posted by willem
Wizard
SupporterWell said Willem
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