Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Poll Option

Votes

Graph

Craptastic, do I really have to climb there?

Better than Melton Creek bouldering but...

16%

I'd rather climb indoor!

Lots of fun though the walk in sucks.

28%

I love crowds.

Ok climbing and the birds are really pretty.

Pretty darn fun all round

25%

Melbourne's best!!

Topic Date User

Werribee Gorge: like it? love it? loathe it? 31-Jan-2011 At 5:41:19 PM lacto

Message

On 31/01/2011 gtempest wrote:
>On 31/01/2011 rolsen1 wrote:
>>Is there any chance the old walk in could be negotiated with the landowner
>>and reopened? Throwing the bikes in and riding across the paddocks was
>>so much better. I've only been 3 or 4 times since the new track, Camel's
>>is so much better for a local trip
>
>As far as I know the original walk in (across the paddocks) is along a
>public right of way. It is still marked on the 1:25,000 series VicMaps.
>This right of way goes back well over 100 years. The farmer who owned the
>land didn't want to go to the expense of putting up fences along the road
>boundary but allowed a stile to be built and climbers and walkers then
>had access along the 'road'. It was great to ride in on a mountain bike
>and was a popular way of approaching the cliff. From what I understand
>the new owner decided that there was to be no more access and closed it
>off. Parks Victoria don't have the money to fight the case in court and
>the landowner just gained a chunk of extra land. There was also the problem
>that cars and walkers had to cross the railway line and this was quite
>rightly regarded as dangerous. Parks Victoria must have decided that all
>of this was just too difficult to deal with and worked with the VCC to
>construct a new walking trail starting from near the railway trestle and
>within the State Park boundary. Technically (and this would have to be
>checked) the farmer cannot object to anyone crossing his land if it is
>indeed a public right of way (the road). Climbing over the fences (as opposed
>to going through the gate) is probably not allowed though. Tracey (the
>VCC Access Officer) would probably know more about the legality of this
>approach but I suspect the farmer has won this battle.
to extinguish the right of way the farmer would have to prove that nobody had used it for quite a few years and that he had not acted to stop people using it . If it is a gazetted road then he could be forced to fence it off and he would be liable for rent of the road if not fenced . A title search would the only real way to find out for sure . Even if no right is on title a right may be there as it had been used for years to get to the cliff.