WARNING: A MOUNTAIN OF EVIDENCE
PLANS TO PERMANENTLY CLOSE TOURIST SPOT
SECRET government documents have revealed official plans to permanently close the popular Mount Warning walking track in northern NSW before the end of next year.
The trail to the worldfamous extinct volcano in the Tweed Valley, known to the Indigenous community as Wollumbin, has been closed since last March due to COVID.
Thousands of people trek to the peak of the mountain each year to take in breathtaking sunrises over the valley to the ocean. But public fears have been growing that Mount Warning could be declared off-limits to hikers forever, as has happened with Uluru in the Northern Territory.
Those fears have now been confirmed in Freedom of Information documents obtained from the NSW Parks and Wildlife Service by Right to Climb, a group whose credo is “our mountains belong to all of us”.
The heavily redacted documents reveal that a “Wollumbin Closure Strategy Implementation Plan” has been drawn up by bureaucrats, listing steps including a “Final Wollumbin Closure Event” on November 22 next year.
The document includes proposed dates for a “public education” campaign ending in October next year, as well as a media program.
Another official document is titled “Wollumbin National Park Closure – Communications and Engagement Plan”.
The document says an extended interim closure of the park “would allow NPWS to consult with the Aboriginal community and key visitor economy stakeholders to deliver alternative experiences and plan a permanent closure due to ongoing safety risks and visitor impacts on Aboriginal cultural values”.
“Current generations of Aboriginal elders and community representatives see it as their responsibility to ensure sacred sites are protected and the traditional Lore and associated cultural protocols are upheld by all people,” the document states. “Desecration, littering and toileting, particularly around the summit, is causing unacceptable physical and cultural impacts and damage.”
Right to Climb’s Marc Hendrickx, a qualified engineering geologist and veteran climber, said the “bombshell” documents contained “incredible revelations”, which should alarm the public.
He said they showed that the NPWS had misled the public over safety risks.
FIVE people remain in the race for the Gold Coast’s top bureaucratic job as councillors received a secret briefing on the top candidates.
Dale Dickson has been council CEO since 2003 but councillors in July last year decided to launch a nationwide recruitment process for the position. The council is the second largest in Australia and Mr Dickson’s salary of $600,000 is larger than the Prime Minister’s.
The “confidential staffing matter” was again on the agenda at Tuesday’s full council meeting.
Cr Hermann Vorster made a conflict-of-interest declaration in open session in which he referred to Mayor Tom Tate’s media advisor Warwick Sinclair having made a complaint to the Crime and Corruption Commission about Mr Dickson.
Mr Sinclair has accused Mr Dickson of misusing his authority to delay the start of his job, causing him financial losses.
In his reply at the time, Mr Dickson said he was yet to see the complaint but would “welcome any investigation by the CCC or any other independent agency regarding my conduct as City of Gold Coast CEO”.
Cr Vorster said Mr Sinclair was a friend and may meet the definition of a “related party” under laws surrounding conflict declarations.
Mr Dickson excused himself from the meeting as Cr Tate dealt with Cr Vorster’s declaration. Before seeking advice from the City solicitor, Cr Tate told councillors he agreed with Cr Vorster’s explanation as to why he should stay in the room.
Cr Tate later told the meeting: “We’ve got five applicants coming. You haven’t seen any data today. We’ve got a presentation by our consultant. Really, there is no decision to be made today.”
Cr Tate asked Cr Vorster “how is your mind” in terms of assessing the applicants. Cr Vorster said he was “open and persuadable”.
The motion for Cr Vorster staying for the presentation was supported by councillors.
Councillors are likely to voice their preferences at a special meeting next Monday before a final vote is made.