*** We Need Your Help ***
The Newnes Plateau has recently become adopted into the Gardens Of Stone State Conservation Area and highlining is currently being contemplated as a legal activity. This is a big opportunity and we need everyone to put in a submission to the draft plan to get it over the line. Permission here will open the doors for us all over Australia!
Submissions close 5th July.
Below is an example of what you can write about. Ideally change it up, make it personal, and tell your own story. There’s plenty of other things NPWS have planned for this new conservation area that don’t exactly align with conservation values, so even slacklining in this conservation area is not that important to you, I’m sure you’d like to save the plateau from more mining or excessive tourism development.
The key thing is to get a submission off as soon as possible. Today would be ideal.
*** Submission Example ***
Dear NPWS Planning Team,
I am writing to you, to express my support of the Australian Slacklining Associations submission to the Gardens Of Stone Draft Management Plan.
As a slackliner and an avid user of Australia’s national parks and reserves, it has been great to see slacklining and highlining included on the Gardens Of Stone draft management plan. It is my hope that the final version contains permission for me to practice my recreation (slacklining and highlining), with the same freedoms any park user such as bushwalkers and tourists will enjoy.
It is also important to me to see a balance maintained between recreation and conservation. Our wild spaces deserve protection now more than ever, but it is also a shame to shut off access to these remote and beautiful areas. It is in these areas that I feel most connected to the earth and environment, and the new Gardens Of Stone area holds a special place for me.
In particular I would like to see the following access roads open for public use:
– Glow Worm Tunnel Road
– Sunnyside Ridge Road
It is in the interest of all park users that these areas remain open and accessible.
It is also my opinion that mining activities both existing and planned positively detract from the user experience and that their interests do not align with that of a conservation area. While it is great to see this pocket of wilderness protected it is important that the protection status actually achieves its goal.
Finally I would like to express my support of the other recreational activities on the management plan, inc. climbing, canyoning, abseiling, camping and cycling. It is so important that myself and others can continue to practice quality recreational activities within the new Gardens Of Stone Reserve, along with this, I would like to see NPWS continue to actively work with relevant peak bodies when developing plans that affect them.
Thank you, Your Name Here.
***
Send to: npws.parkplanning@environment.nsw.gov.au
Submissions close July 5th!
ASA Submission to the Draft Plan:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F-cM8zsTWUfOUDFS_XylwwkUGwnu8Bl8/view?usp=sharing
What should I say? That Gardens of Stone State Conservation is certainly a place of remarkable natural and cultural value, safeguarding the ancient sandstone pagodas, a selection of threatened species, rich eucalypt forests, and vital cultural heritage. I can’t wait for the time when it will become a huge spot that draws visitors and supports the entire economy of the Lithgow region.