Tom,
The problem of birders' access to public land, mainly sewage farms, is a
growing one. A good example in Sydney is McGraths Hill where NO access of
any kind is now allowed. There is clearly fear by local Councils, States and
Federal Govt that they might be sued if you were to be injured in any way
(snake bite, falling over fallen wood, drowning in a settling pond!etc).
It could make sense to approach Federal Government (it is election year
after all!) to see if access legislation could be implemented for a number
of specific sites (whether local, state or federal land), provided legal
recourse rights are signed away.A single permit could be issued for all the
sites, confriming Federal Governments ability to cut through yet more red
tape.
Perhaps the Environment Minister should be approached as he has shown
empathy with avifauna (eg OBP) in the past. It would be a vote-winner if he
could pull it off. I suggest others inclduing yourself contact him with your
own specific examples.
In fact I'll copy him in on this.
Senator Campbell,
Many birders are finding access to excellent bird sites (eg McGraths Hill in
Sydney, Werribee in Melbourne) becoming more and more problematic (in some
cases impossible) as all levels of Government are more and more litigation
conscious. Tom Tarrant's example is one of many and I'm sure birding-aus
list members can supply specific examples in their local patches.
Is this something which you could assist birders across Australia. It would
be a great help to us and, I believe, be a vote-winner.
Yours faithfully,
Graham Buchan
Sydney
0432 88 00 76
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