Pic: Tree at Half Moon Bay
The Crown Land Services (the section of the Parks and Wildlife Service that manages unreserved public land) is insisting that local communities pay for basic management of public land, even where it involves removing hazards. This policy has been established without public consultation at a time when millions of dollars are being spent on tourism infrastructure in reserves.
The Opossum Bay and South Arm Coastcare wrote to Crown Land Services (CLS) on 15 October 2017 asking that two dead Cypress pines be removed from the dunes behind Half Moon Bay at South Arm. The area is unreserved Crown land. The group were concerned that the two dead trees pose a danger to beach users and would cause erosion if they fell due to strong winds or storms. One dead tree over hangs the beach and is where locals access the beach. The group also wanted to plant native plants in this area but understandably don’t want to do so if the trees could later fall on the plants.
It took three months for someone to assess the tree and a further month for the group to receive a reply. CLS say they will not remove the dead trees because of the low risk, based on “expected usage”. I don’t know how CLS assessed expected usage but this part of the South Arm Beach is very busy on warm days and is used everyday of the year by locals.
CLS says that if the group wants the tree removed it will need to apply for approval and pay for a tree contractor to remove the trees out of their own pockects. Yes, the public are being asked to pay for managing public land.
Last month a community group at Legana on the West Tamar had to go to the media before CLS would withdraw its demands that it pay for bench seats to be installed on a walking track it had help to build. The fee would be more than $1000 plus an annual rent, for the seats that the group had paid for.
Community groups should not have to complain to the media to get a fair response from CLS.
The public are being asked to pay for basic management of Crown land while $4 million per year is being spent by the state government on tourism infrastructure in reserves. The government recently allocated $1 million dollars towards the cost of building a private luxury resort at Crescent Bay. Tens of millions are promised for the Cradle cable car, new bush walks etc. On top of this millions are raised annually from park entry fees.
The Opossum Bay and South Arm Coastcare group members are already contributing their voluntary labor to managing weeds across the peninsula and should not have to pay for hazards to be managed.
This policy should be thrown out and CLS questioned about why the policy was created and why there was no consultation.
If you have had a similar experience with CLS we would like to hear from you …
*Peter McGlone is Director of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust Inc
