Geoffrey,
Everything you say is correct concerning
Newline except that the land encompassing most of the COG survey sites is Federal
land and under the Department of Defence. The quarry is under ACT
Government control. I have been contacted by the owner of ‘Tableland
Explosives’ and been told that the land is up for sale and this has been
confirmed by other interested parties. This has naturally set off warning
signals and I am now in the process of enquiring from TAMS what they know about
this. The grape-vine tells me that the Airport is not interested in
buying the land but we obviously need to keep a close eye on the situation.
Your ever vigilant committee,
Chris
-----Original Message-----
From: Geoffrey Dabb
[
Sent: Tuesday, 25 March 2008 7:17
PM
To: 'Canberrabirds List'
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds]
Newline
Gee = Less than 2 yrs I
think: there must have been quite a turnover in membership. This ranks #4
under 'recurrent topics' on this chatline. [After #1 YFHE migration, #2
Abbreviations (remember the BCHE in the NLP last Winter) and #3 Currawong
trends.] I don't think it has much to do with COG officialdom. My
information might be outdated, but I understand the position to be as follows.
The paddock is government land, being one
of the holding paddocks for the now-disused Oaks Estate abattoirs. However,
it is the subject of a grazing licence which gives the holder the right to
graze his stock without interference. I believe the govt/department
position is that if you want an assurance
on right to enter you should speak to the licence-holder. So far as I know, that person is
amiably-disposed provided people act reasonably, including, for this purpose,
not evicting sheep, stampeding lambing ewes or complaining about them being
there. Similar considerations apply to a lot of places that the wandering Canberra
birdwatcher ‘goes onto’ ie behave sensibly, and where
appropriate deferentially, and don’t force the issue.
An adjoining area, the former fireworks
store, is now used for storage of other hazardous materials and might be more
sensitive.
I am quite happy to be corrected by a COG
official. Perhaps there is a recent and more formal arrangement with the
licence-holder. Trouble with those is they can entail more explicit
conditions. gd
-----Original Message-----
From: [
Sent: Tuesday, 25 March 2008 5:51 PM
To: Canberrabirds List
Subject: Newline
I've had several people email me privately
for directions to Newline, to which I've responded, but I'm not sure what
arrangements, if any, COG has with the landowner about access to this property.
I have a feeling there was discussion about this on the list a few years ago,
but I can't recall. Can a COG official comment about access to this site?
>
