Lip shut to silence ‘partying bogans’

THE Scenic Rim Regional Council mayor has blamed “bogan parties” on the decision to fence off Beechmont’s popular Lip Falls.

Access to the public Lip Falls on Denham Reserve was cut off late last month by a private owner’s fence because of their liability concerns, after what locals say was years of failure by council to find a permanent solution.

But Mayor Greg Christensen has instead blamed the need for the new fence on bad behaviour of visitors.

“The sort of behaviour we saw that would make us sympathetic to the landowner’s position was the large number of people parking illegally across driveways and on private property and leaving the residue of what can only be described as bogan parties around the base of the falls and within the reserve,” Cr Christensen said.

“We will continue to liaise with relevant stakeholders to ensure the future solutions have a priority to preserve and protect the significant natural resource which is encompassed by the reserve.

“We will continue to explore what opportunities there are for that to coincide with respectful public access.”

“As a small council, we have limited funds to prioritise the wide range of needs for our community.”

The statement is similar to comments made by council over two years ago when they first closed the walk with signs.

Pat Fitzgerald, who has spruiked plans to open the area for years, said it was up to council to provide basic amenities like bins and toilets.

“We don’t close our beaches just because someone might drown, we don’t close our national parks when there’s an accident and we don’t close our roads because someone has driven badly so all this talk of public liability needs to be kept in the proper context.”

Opposition Tourism Minister David Crisafulli said money should be set aside for the amenities.

“We back eco tourism across Queensland but sadly it constantly gets put in the toohard basket by the Palaszczuk Government,” he said.

“Opening access to these beautiful areas shouldn’t rest solely with councils and it certainly shouldn’t be landholders who carry the can.”