Mersey Forest Road - Alternate Access

[tastrekker]

2 weeks ago I sent the letter below via the Parks enquiries link on their web page. There has been no reply. Here's the ABC News article I refer to in the letter: tasmanian-flood-damage-repairs-in-parks-dragging-on

Attention: Stan Matuszek, Operations Manager
Re: Upper Mersey Valley Flood Damage (or lack thereof)

Dear Stan,

Firstly, I understand the June floods combined with other events this year must have created some amazing operational challenges for your team. Thank you and well done for the work to date and the ongoing work which lies ahead.

Your comment in a recent ABC News article says the "...Walls of Jerusalem National Park is closed due to significant flood damage to road infrastructure." This does not make sense to locals who have been up there and seen how that area was amazingly unscathed following the floods.

When I went there immediately after the floods, access to the following facilities was fine using the Borradaile and Bare Hill Roads:
Mersey Whitewater Regional Reserve
Arm River Camp
Lake Rowallan
West Rowallan Track
Walls of Jerusalem Track
Lake Myrtle Track
Juno Creek Track
Lees Paddocks Track
Reedy Lake Track
Jackson Creek Track
Moses Creek Track

The only small issues getting to these areas was a chunk of road damaged just before the Arm River bridge (this could be easily barricaded) and a bit of gravel washed onto the road beside the Rowallan Dam wall (easily swept clear).

The Borradaile and Bare Hill Roads are in just as good condition as when they were used to bypass cable logging along the Mersey Forest Road several years ago. There is just one culvert which was a bit sloshy but Forestry Tas have now dumped some gravel on that and it is fine.

The whole route to the above locations is absolutely fine to the kind of visitors who would have been heading into those areas. If people are daunted by the Borradaile and Bare Hill Roads they probably should not have been heading onto the unsealed section of the Mersey Forest Road anyway.

So... Given the above state of affairs, it makes no sense that access to the area has been blocked.

The only valid reason I can possibly see is the danger of people heading to the seriously damaged sections of the Mersey Forest Road, Dublin Plains area and Maggs/Arm Roads. I agree this is a major concern. I also expect repairs will be much cheaper if there is no public access to those areas. However, these issues could be solved with the installation of three boom gates closing off those areas while remediation is undertaken.

Given the location of the new gate, Forestry appear happy for continued public access to Borradaile Plains right up to and including the top of Bare Hill Road. I therefore don't believe it is Forestry who want people kept out.

Are there issues I'm unaware of? If so, please provide more information so National Parks users and land owners can be enlightened. At the moment, the reasons being given for the restricted access do not make sense to locals who know the area.

I look forward to your response.

Kind regards,
Clint
(TasTrekker)

[tastrekker]

I think we're going to give Option 2 a go. Most likely cycle in from the new gate Friday night and set up camp at the start of the Arm River Track, then up Ossa on Saturday, and return on Sunday if we wind up doing that I'll let you all know how it pans out. I'll try and get some photos along the way.

Hi njbignell,
Did you go? Option 2 (bike n walk)? Was the gate locked? Can you confirm its exact location?

[Nuts]

Generous letter there Clint. Good luck, hope they grace you with a reply.

[Nuts]

Rod How's dramatic footage. Nothing a coupla working bees couldn't fix:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLafM92 ... ture=share

[Lizzy]

The commentary for the footage Nuts linked said- should take a couple of weeks to fix! Looks like maybe a tad longer..... Such a shame. Was hoping to visit soon

[Nuts]

Yeah, cuts the best access to a lot of country. Our advice was to 'make alternate plans for the rest of summer' Lizzy : (
No update yet & not expected soon.

[pazzar]

Parks office at Mole Creek told me not to expect access for at least another 12 months. I sure hope not!

[geoskid]

Thanks Nuts, I hadn't seen the damage to Mersey Forest rd. It certainly looks like an engineering solution is involved.
Thanks also to Tastrekker for chasing answers.
I don't understand why this is PWS's problem for a start. Is'nt this council road. Anyway, from the article linked to by TT a spokesperson from PWS said they are not under resourced. It just doesn't all add up to me - hopefully it is just me not having the full picture - otherwise, we are being taken for fools.
Can someone in the know bring it all together and explain the whole situation for those of us wanting to know the facts of the matter.

Cheers

[eggs]

Curious site for info:
http://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/road-closure-update-forestry-tasmania

quote: "Repairs to the Mersey Forest Road will start in October and take up to 6 months. This is well within the initial repair estimate of 18 months."

[tastrekker]

Hey folks!

Stan Matuszek got back to me and we had a lengthy phone call on this topic. Firstly he noted their internal systems fell down and thus it took a long time for him to become aware of my letter.

The upshot from Stan is that Parks are not involved in the road repair as roads in that area are still predominantly the responsibility of Forestry Tas.

I am aware of some organisations who have gained permission from Forestry to use the alternate route. Therefore if anyone else wants access via the alternate route then Forestry are the people to approach. Their head office stakeholder manager in Hobart is a good starting point.

If you are approaching Forestry it is also important to realise the Mersey Forest area is in their North East Region. That will help direct your enquiry to the correct area.

Once again I should reiterate there is no flood damage affecting the Borradaile Plains / Bare Hill route to the destinations below. The only problem with access is the new gate!

Mersey Whitewater Regional Reserve
Arm River Camp
Lake Rowallan
West Rowallan Track
Walls of Jerusalem Track
Lake Myrtle Track
Juno Creek Track
Lees Paddocks Track
Reedy Lake Track
Jackson Creek Track
Moses Creek Track

[Nuts]

I think there was a link here to contacting the NE manager from the fire closures. Great if there's a chance for public access from Bare Hill given the timeframe.

[Nuts]

Contact: http://www.forestrytas.com.au/road-closures

[Orion]

Any updates on accessibility via an alternate route?

[tastrekker]

Yes. Gate now locked. There's a prices for obtaining key from Forestry Tas.
Mersey Forest Rd repairs progressing well. Rod How has excellent drone footage of the works on YouTube.

[Haydynb]

Hey Tar Trekker..any idea on cost of obtaining a key?

[taswegian]

Try $500. Five hundred! Refunded for safe return.

[Mountain Rocket]

*&%$#! hell!! Bit prohibitive for a student such as myself to even just front that kind of cash for a weekend.

[Haydynb]

*&%$#! hell...trying to make ft profitable by charging for keys...thks for the feedback

[Lizzy]

I asked about the key and forestry office in scottsdale said landholders only can have access

[tastrax]

Road repairs as at 13/12 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8jwnqn-gJU

[Phil]

Hi guys

So just to clarify, I realise vehicular access is an issue, but are there any issues relating to damage of the actual tracks themselves? Specifically the ART?

[Krunel]

Rang forestry this morning, they declined to give out a key to the bare hill gate. The advice given was to park at the gate and walk in. Disappointing but expected as per Lizzy's previous post.

[tastrekker]

The good news is that works on Mersey Forest Road commenced in November 2016 and are expected to be completed by March 2017. Not much longer to wait!
Hopefully Rod will be up there with his drone to give a progress update in the near future.

[pazzar]

Rang forestry this morning, they declined to give out a key to the bare hill gate. The advice given was to park at the gate and walk in. Disappointing but expected as per Lizzy's previous post.

There is nowhere near the gate suitable for parking. You would be parked at least another km up the road. It would be a solid couple of hours to reach the Walls carpark on a bike, let alone walking!

[tastrekker]

You'd have to be keen!

[taswanderer37]

Hi all, ive been following this matter with interest as i was hoping to spend a few days soon in WOJ and thought i might add my 2 bobs worth.

Theres something smelly about this whole senario:

as mentioned previously, Mersey Forest road from Bare Hill rd to the walls carpark is in exactly the same condition its always been in.
Gads Hill, Borradaile and Bare hill rd's are now in better condition than they have been in for years, potholes have been filled in from the bitumen right up to the new gate,
Currently they are logging at Borradaile plains, and the roads are well and truly good enough for log trucks.

I can appreciate Forestry would not want the general flock of tourists using this access, but they have absolutely no reason to keep the locals out who know the areas and the roads well.

I have no issue with the gate specifically, so long as we can collect a key (sign a permission form or disclaimer even ) and I would even pay a $500 bond. although i find the idea of this quite disgraceful.
Its fair enough that while they are working on Mersey Forest road etc that they would want to know who's in there and where they are going.
a bit over a week ago i passed a tour company bus heading into the walls, and after a random google search of the walking tour company pages, all seem to be advertising trips into WOJ, with one specifically mentioning the trip is now longer due to the change in road access. If its okay for them, then why not us ?

taswegian, can you say who offered the key for the $500 dollar bond ? as it would seem this is the person to contact.

I really feel someone in Forestry should be accountable for this, (not just the office worker answering the phone) they used to be an excellent company to deal with re: accessing Public land that's locked up, but seem to have gone down hill dramatically.
While Parks themselves have not caused all this, i also think they should be pushing forestry to make this key available for those who can jump through the hoops required.

Rant over...

[tastrekker]

The road is in Forestry's North East district making John McNamara ultimately responsible. That's who I was dealing with. Ialso dealt with Stan Matuszek, Operations Manager at Parks.
Stan's concerns were mainly around, lowest common denominator motorists (my phrase, not his) I.e. Confused hire car drivers who end up at Lake Rowallan trying to find Cradle Mt because they missed the right turn onto Olivers Rd. None of those kind of drivers would be looking for the Walls etc in the first place, let alone willing to attempt the alternate access route. Ironically, once the road is fixed we will still get little hire cars missing that turn off.
I too thought it was all rather smelly at first. However, after conversations with John and Stan, I don't think there's anything too sculldugerous going on. Both organisations are just being over cautious at a time when neither of them have any spare visitor services budget to play with. Hence the cheap, quick, low risk option was to install a gate while work is undertaken. This saves them a heap of expensive traffic management etc. Their decision to limit access to commercial operators and land owners is purely based on minimising risk.
The only way to get a different outcome in future would be for someone to tally up the number of people who did not visit Tassie as a result of this closure. Even if it was looked into, I expect the number would be very small. Most people I know have just done other stuff in Tassie which means the income is not lost.
I could get into the politics of Parks/Forestry to explain my opinion of root cause in all this but that's a whole extra story for another time.

[benoloughlin]

Thanks Tastrekker,

Was John McNamara or Stan Matuszek able to give you an update on the expected reopening of Mersey Forest Road?
Thanks
Ben

The road is in Forestry's North East district making John McNamara ultimately responsible. That's who I was dealing with. Ialso dealt with Stan Matuszek, Operations Manager at Parks.
Stan's concerns were mainly around, lowest common denominator motorists (my phrase, not his) I.e. Confused hire car drivers who end up at Lake Rowallan trying to find Cradle Mt because they missed the right turn onto Olivers Rd. None of those kind of drivers would be looking for the Walls etc in the first place, let alone willing to attempt the alternate access route. Ironically, once the road is fixed we will still get little hire cars missing that turn off.
I too thought it was all rather smelly at first. However, after conversations with John and Stan, I don't think there's anything too sculldugerous going on. Both organisations are just being over cautious at a time when neither of them have any spare visitor services budget to play with. Hence the cheap, quick, low risk option was to install a gate while work is undertaken. This saves them a heap of expensive traffic management etc. Their decision to limit access to commercial operators and land owners is purely based on minimising risk.
The only way to get a different outcome in future would be for someone to tally up the number of people who did not visit Tassie as a result of this closure. Even if it was looked into, I expect the number would be very small. Most people I know have just done other stuff in Tassie which means the income is not lost.
I could get into the politics of Parks/Forestry to explain my opinion of root cause in all this but that's a whole extra story for another time.

[tastrekker]

Those conversations were way back in October before work started. I'm quite confident they will hit their March target as per the link in my post last Friday. That page is updated fairly frequently so I would check there. State Growth is managing the project so both Parks and Forestry are a step removed from the repairs.

[taswegian]

Taswanderer37, I use Forestry roads to access occasional work sites so get keys in gated areas.
Yes the cost may seem exorbitant, but there might be other gates in area with same key and if someone loses a key (perhaps more importantly fails to return it) I imagine they have to decide whether to change the locks and resupply those that have access.
Wood theft is a real issue and a "mislaid" key, not returned would make easy picking for the unscrupulous.

There's more to access, than mere ability to drive from A to B.

Unfortunately we live in a very disciplined world when it comes to such things these days.