Page 4318 - Week 13 - Thursday, 17 November 2005
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public were being encouraged out there, and there is no doubt that the place is still in a pretty devastated state, but that there is a huge amount of commitment to restoring it.
A draft variation to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve’s management plan has been around. I believe that the time for commenting on it has already passed—I think comments were due by 1 October—and I have no doubt that the government is currently considering the way forward in response to that variation.
One of the issues raised, and perhaps the most contentious issue in terms of the environment and conservation community, is the introduction of camping in selected zones of Tidbinbilla. I am still open minded about whether or not this is a good idea, and until we see the details of where those camping sites are it is a good idea to remain cautiously open minded.
The community group Friends of Tidbinbilla, who I am sure have been of inestimable support to the government at various times in providing volunteers and other support for the reserve, have raised some important points in their submission on the draft variation, including in regard to camping. Their concerns are about safety of campers. As there is only one exit from the reserve via road, a safety mechanism would need to be set up in case a fire occurred. As the reserve is closed to the public on days of high fire risk, consideration has to be taken about how this can be implemented for people already camping there or on their way to camp there. As the reserve is a public good, fees for camping should only be run on a cost recovery basis and commercial operations banned. Since visitors will be on site after hours, there may be requirements for a ranger to be on site overnight.
I would say it would be a necessity for a ranger to be on site overnight, and this, of course, is an additional expense. My thoughts about camping in Tidbinbilla include the fact that certain areas, such as the early part of Tidbinbilla, would be more appropriate than others as a public camping site. Visitors come into—and many of them never get much further than that—that early bit anyway. If there are to be other camping sites, they would need to be reached by walking, just to make sure there was minimum impact from visitors. But they are only my preliminary thoughts; they are not set in cement at all.
The National Parks Association of the ACT, an independent, non-profit conservation organisation, has also raised some points about the commercial use of nature reserves within the ACT. It states that, in order to retain the essential character of Namadgi National Park and other nature reserves, commercial development should be restricted such that commercial huts, roofed or semi-permanent accommodation and networks of camping/walking facilities should not be established in Namadgi, Canberra Nature Park and other nature reserves in the ACT. My thought is that Tidbinbilla really operates as a sort of mechanism to protect Namadgi to some extent, especially since the fires. Tidbinbilla is much more compromised in terms of its natural state. Encouraging visitors to Tidbinbilla can take the pressure off Namadgi, and I can see their management being balanced in that way.
The association believes there should be only basic camping accommodation run by Environment ACT, with pit or composting toilets such as are provided at Orroral or Mount Clear; that retail outlets should be confined to the visitors centre and that
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