[talk-au] Deletion of walking tracks/paths

[Andrew Harvey]

On Tue, 25 Jan 2022 at 12:59, Tom Brennan <website at ozultimate.com> wrote:

> I was somewhat bemused by the comment:
> "As Ranger of Macquarie Pass National Park (New South Wales, Australia)
> I am writing to advise that these tracks either do not exist or are
> illegal tracks, which have been closed based on a risk assessment and
> legal advice following a serious incident.
> Illegal tracks are also causing significant environmental degradation
> and impacts to threatened species and are not suitable for use".
>
> One of the closed tracks is the Jump Rock track, which is listed as such
> on the NPWS alerts for Macquarie Pass:
>
> https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/macquarie-pass-national-park/local-alerts


"Access to Macquarie Rivulet (also known as “Jump Rock”) is not permitted.
The track is steep and eroded, and contains unstable surfaces, cliffs and
drop offs."

Gee it's the bush of course it's steep, contains unstable surfaces, cliffs
and drop offs...

The fact they refer to it as "Jump Rock track" means they are saying there
is a track there, just that access by foot is not permitted, ie
highway=footway/path + access=no.


> However, a number of the other tracks do exist - I've walked them - and
> as far as I am aware, are not closed. Though perhaps there is
> on-the-ground signage about closure(?). There is no general prohibition
> about walking off marked tracks in Macquarie Pass NP (ref. Plan of
> Management), so not sure about the "illegal tracks" comment.
>
> The tracks are certainly not signposted, but are regularly used and
> followed by canyoners. Trail visibility is at best intermediate
> (probably less for some).
>

Based on this I'll restore these deleted ways. We can continue to work on
improving the tagging and getting more information about source of track
closure.


> It is good that NPWS has engaged. I suspect they probably need a policy
> or approach at a higher level than individual national parks or rangers.
> The officer who made the OSM updates has obviously been instructed by
> the local area ranger, but probably doesn't have the on-the-ground details.
>
> Each park has its own management challenges and that general approach
> would probably get tailored depending on the park - for example,
> Macquarie Pass NP is relatively small and likely to be more impacted by
> track proliferation than something large like Blue Mountains NP.
>
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