At a recent meeting between Confederation executive members and officers of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife service (NPWS), agreement was reached on how bushwalking clubs will apply for permission to conduct bushwalking and related activities in all NSW national parks.
The agreement follows months of negotiations to find a way around certain provisions of the NSW Government's Land Management Regulation 1995 that say the prior consent of the NPWS must be obtained before any activities involving risk may be undertaken in national parks.
Because national park authorities maintain that bushwalking and related activities such as canyoning, abseiling, liloing and cascading are risky activities under these regulations, Confederation has been trying to have the regulations changed so that clubs do not have to get permission for every single activity on their programs.
Turning a blind eye is not good enough
It appears the NPWS never had any intention of enforcing these regulations. Their purpose is simply to provide a defence against legal action if there is an accident involving people participating in 'risky' activities. But Confederation was concerned that our insurers might refuse to pay a claim from a bushwalker injured on any activity in a national park that was conducted without permission.
Everyone concerned agrees the present, badly drafted catch-all wording creates more problems than it solves. Unfortunately it exists at the moment and the NPWS cannot simply ignore it.
NPWS Central Region Operations Manager, Chris McIntosh, outlined changes to the unsatisfactory consent arrangements previously proposed. The scheme now is that blanket consent must be applied for annually.When granted, it will apply to all Confederation's member clubs (approved organisations under the rules).
This means that individual clubs won't have to make separate application except in certain circumstances. Clubs will have to provide the NPWS with copies of their walks programs as soon as they are published. Programs should be mailed or faxed to each NPWS District that manages the national park in which programmed activities will be held. The NPWS will provide us with a list of Districts and contact details. This information will will passed on to clubs as soon as it is available.
The NPWS has told us that as long as each club program gives the broad intention of activities for the period it covers, that's all they require. No further action will be necessary unless the number of people on any activity exceed those shown in the accompanying table. If the number attending any activity is likely to exceed the notification number, the leader must inform the relevant District office at least one week prior to the event.
Even if exact numbers may not be known until the last minute, when there is any chance of the notification number being exceeded, the District office must be informed.
Activity | Code | Notification No |
Walk and bush camp | B | 15 |
Walk on maintained tracks | B | 30 |
Water Related | C | 10 |
Cycling/orienteering | D | 15 |
Rock Related | E | 10 |
Wilderness | F | 10* |
(* 6 in designated wilderness or in local Plans of Management where numbers are specified.)
Note: District managers may nominate certain sensitive areas where the above numbers are clearly not appropriate. They will also inform clubs if other groups are planning activities in the same area at the same time.
It is obvious that most club activities will have fewer than these numbers so no club should be greatly inconvenienced.These limits will be used as a trial for 12 months and then reviewed to see if any changes are necessary. Only the Confederation and the Scout Association are involved in this arrangement. All other organisations and individuals will have to apply for each activity. This is another very good reason for bushwalking clubs to belong to the Confederation and illustrates the benefits of having a collective voice.
This scheme will be applied as soon as the Service has finalised the administrative details. It is a stop-gap measure introduced to deal with an inappropriate regulation. The long-term objective is to change the regulation. The NPWS may use the information on club activities to seek help from bushwalkers in tracking the spread of weeds and feral animals.
At Confederation's last management committee meeting, it was agreed unanimously to accept these arrangements and co-operate with the NPWS in their implementation.