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That is how
Bill Bennett of Orchid Beach described Environment Minister Dean Wells'
announcement that the beach from Dilli Village to Hook Point would be closed
once the old island mining road (Dillinghams Road) was upgraded.
Bill has
been a part owner and operator of a Fraser Island garage for the past nine year.
His main concerns were that the road would not be adequately upgraded and that
it would be inconsistent with other driving conditions on the island. "They have
already indicated to us that they won't be spending the type of money that is
required for a road of that nature....from what they said it won't be a sealed
road so all it's going to do is degenerate because the gravel or whatever they
put on it will just go into the sand. To build a road to those sort of
conditions, it's got to be done properly - not on a shoestring budget". He said
that the road could pose a serious safety risk for drivers who did not stop to
inflate their tyres. he explained that people would need have deflated tyres to
get from the barge landing across the beach to the road.
Unless the
government were to install a concrete ramp which, in his opinion, was "just not
feasible" because of shifting sands. He didn't think people would stop and
inflate their tyres to travel 14 or 15km along the upgraded road and then
deflate them to return to sand driving. "Some people can drive sensibly with
deflated tyres, however, other people will still carry on as if they have hard
tyres....The danger is that you can roll a tyre - you've just got to move a bit
suddenly one way".
Clyde
Coombs said he also believed that they would have major problems maintaining
Dillinghams Road as a "safe travelling road". They would also have "a major
problem in the access at either end when you are getting on and off the beach".
One only had to look at what had happened with the newly upgraded beach access
and exit point at Indian Head which had deteriorated badly in its first two
months.
Ecologist
Shirley Crawford said she was concerned by the damage that might be caused by
imported road surfacing materials. "By just bringing in soils you are going to
bring in soil flora and fauna that are foreign to the area and that does silent
damage that you might not even see....for who knows how many years".
Alternatively, if the soil or gravel was treated there would be a risk of
chemical contamination.
Friends of
the Earth Maryborough president Ross Daniels said he also had serious concerns
about the environmental impact of a road upgrade. "What we will see if
Dillinghams Road is resurfaced is a huge amount of earthworks and environmental
damage to reconstruct it. It would have to be a two lane road to allow tour
buses to pass. The road will also allow for all tide access to the island from
Hook Point. At the moment only the very committed 4WD'er would attempt this road
which, in itself, limits access. If a two lane surfaced road is built we will
see a lot more tourists on the island".
David
Porter said he did not believe the impact of 4WDing on the southeast beach could
be used as a justification for closures. He said any supposed damage would be
superseded by "one good tide in a bad sea". He summarised many of FOFs concerns
by concluding, "I would wonder why you would upgrade that road on the inside of
the island at great expense when a perfectly good road exists on the beach -
when really that money could be better spent in a lot of other places....."
Friends of
Fraser [FOF] fear that could be the first line of defence for residents and
visitors at Orchid Beach if the now closed Platypus Bay Road is not maintained
as a firebreak.
Orchid
Beach Rural Fire Brigade chairman Dean Monaghan said the road had been the first
line of defence on a wildfire coming down from the [Sandy] Cape. "How that is
going to be taken away from us. If we have a bad year and a good westerly coming
down, we have absolutely Buckley's as a community to stop it. We will be loosing
a lot of property".
Friends of
Fraser [FOF] started as a small nucleus of people who strongly objected to
further closures of Fraser Island to vehicular access.
Queensland
Association of 4WD Club spokesperson Keith Ross said he first heard about the
closures' announcement through 4WD association members. When asked to attend a
meeting with other recreational visitors and residents of Fraser Island he had
no hesitation in accepting. He said the association, which represented about
4000 members, was concerned with ongoing national park closures throughout
Queensland but Fraser Island was pre-eminent. "Fraser Island is the jewel in the
crown and here they are starting to close it down to everybody".
Keith said
through further meetings it was decided to form FOF and organise a strong
protest delegation to attend a public meeting about the closures which
Environment Minister Dean Wells had announced. He said Mr Wells rejected a
request to waive the $30.00 island permit fee for anyone wishing to attend the
meeting. Keith also requested the public meeting be held on the mainland in a
more central place such as Hervey Bay or Brisbane. Keith said he believed it was
the first time that people had been made to pay to attend a public meeting.
Thankfully, the island barges Rainbow Venture and Mantra Ray provided free
transport to protesters on the day.
Mr Wells
then announced that the meeting was to "provide island residents with more
information". Keith said Mr Wells also made a last minute offer to meet with the
4WD association in Brisbane but the wheels had already been set in motion for
the public meeting convoy. Keith said he counted 123 vehicles which had rallied
and converged on Fraser Island for the meeting. he said once the word got out
support from people rolled in and more that 200 people became financial members
of FOF at that public meeting. He has also been overwhelmed by phone and fax
messages from people who wished they could be there but who had prior
commitments: "lawyers, accountants, service station owners, ringing me up and
faxing me and wishing me all the best. You know, offering as much
support.....[as they could]".
Keith said that the 4WD association had not been
idle on the issue since. I had a meeting with National 4WD Association of
Australia in Wollongong in early September. I put a proposal to all the states
associations of the 4WD movement that they should become corporate members and
encourage their members to become financial members of the Friends of Fraser so
that we could fight these closures on a national basis. "every state and
territory [4WD association] in Australia have agreed to become a financial
member of the Friends of Fraser Incorporated. That gives us access to
approximately 30,000 members.
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