Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

Banned climbing areas in Australia 21-Nov-2012 At 11:19:03 PM Sonic

Message

On 21/11/2012 Olbert wrote:
>The Pom mentions climbing as a permitted activity. It does not mention
>bolting and does specifically say bush walkers are a priority.

Ok Ollie - heres a whole load of ammunition. Gotta love bureaucracy.

From the Illawarra Escarpment SCA PoM -
"The west and south-facing cliffs of Mount Keira are used for rock climbing and
abseiling, and this has resulted in numerous bolted climbs and the creation of
informal access tracks. These activities will continue to be permitted provided safety
standards and environmental impacts are acceptable."

and then in the management response -
"4.6.14 Permit rock climbing and abseiling only on the south and west-facing cliff lines
of Mount Keira, as long as it is undertaken in a safe and environmentally
acceptable manner."

Now I'll take my climber hat off and put my land manager hat on. Only the west face and south face are open to climbing. Not the north face, not the east face, not the landslide and not the boulders above the track. The statement also does NOT say more can be bolted, merely that the existing bolted climbs can continue to be climbed. The real kicker is the line

" These activities will continue to be permitted provided safety
standards and environmental impacts are acceptable."

This is interpreted to say only authorised people can install bolts and unfortunately having an offshore skippers ticket doesn't carry authority to install fixed protection in the eyes of NPWS management. Placing a bolt is also NOT an acceptable environmental impact as the natural feature (ie the rock) is willfully damaged and thus immediately contravenes the NPW Act, hence why areas like Kiera tend to be trad areas. Any other arguement is irrelevent if these two core concerns aren't met. In short - bolting is still technically illegal under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 Section 156A within any area under the service's jurisdiction and short of having the serving minister change the law, no-one can do much about it.

Just for reference:
National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 Section 156A
156A Offence of damaging reserved land

(1) A person must not, on or in land reserved under this Act or acquired under Part 11:

(a) remove any water other than for purposes authorised by or under any Act or for the purposes of personal use on the land, or

(b) damage or remove any vegetation, rock, soil, sand, stone or similar substance, or

(c) damage any object or place of cultural value, or

(d) cause or permit any removal or damage referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c).

Maximum penalty:

(a) in the case of a corporation—10,000 penalty units, or

(b) in the case of an individual—1,000 penalty units or 6 months imprisonment, or both.

(2) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence under subsection (1) if the accused proves that the removal or damage concerned:

(a) was done in accordance with the consent of the Director-General or of a person or body that has the care, control and management of the land concerned under this Act, or

(b) was authorised to be done, and was done in accordance with, a licence under this Act or a licence granted under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, or

(c) was essential for the carrying out of:

(i) development in accordance with a development consent within the meaning of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, or

(ii) an activity, whether by a determining authority or pursuant to an approval of a determining authority within the meaning of Part 5 of that Act if the determining authority has complied with that Part, or

(iii) a project approved under Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, or

(iv) State significant infrastructure approved under Part 5.1 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, or

(d) was authorised to be done by or under Part 2 of the Rural Fires Act 1997, the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 or the State Emergency Service Act 1989 and was reasonably necessary in order to avoid a threat to life or property.

(3) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence under subsection (1) if the offence relates to the damage of an object or place of cultural value and the accused proves that he or she did not know, and could not reasonably have known, that the object or place concerned had cultural value.

Hopefully that little lesson on legislation can clear up some things for people in the future.