Beach access fee / off road use fee
Im sure this will be contentious. But lets try to civil , reasonably mature about it and have some dialogue around this important topic
I know there are already parks access fees and to me at the time they were a bitter pill to swallow but after having seen the destruction to dune systems caused by irresponsible 4wd use and being unable to find any other soloutions...... I thought that a beach access fee was a great idea. Such a fee could be used to stabilise and restrict access to damaged areas. Litter pick ups and maybe some signage to educate the masses as to why and what the fee is for.
I am all for free access to the beaches but I want to protect that environment also from people who have little regard for it. I do dislike the idea of being policed and paying fees on everything but self policing clearly is not working as is evidenced by the numbers of 4wds hooning through sandunes past signage disallowing that very act.
Vehicals of payees could display a coloured sticker as proof of payment
Obviously rangers would be required to ensure that people are complying with this requirement so a portion of the fee would be needed to cover that expense.....Pensioners and low incomes get a freebie.
Ok I have my bullet proof wettie on fire away!
caughtup
Posts: 360
Date Joined: 06/02/14
no matter what you do to
no matter what you do to prevent what you've stated your always gonna get fourbys in the dunes.
im sure if that rule comes in with the fees to access beaches your not gonna have much luck. theres always a way to dodge yaself around it.
dunes r great fun but tryina stop hoons n that its never gna happen imo.
sstevee
Posts: 466
Date Joined: 15/11/11
IMO the people that want to
IMO the people that want to do the right thing will do it and those that dont give a toss won't. I can see your logic but IMO the only thing it will achieve is once again punishing all those who are responsible for the actions of the worthless pieces of crap who have no respect for anything.... Instead, I think that problem areas should be policed harder, punishments increased and if needed certain owners and Regos entered into a database and banned from beach and park access... It is these people that WILL ruin it for generations to come...
Steve
MandurahMatt
Posts: 613
Date Joined: 18/09/13
more Rangers sounds good &
more Rangers sounds good & they can cover the costs by fineing the clowns who stuff itup for the rest of us.
Bewdey Fellaz
Anyfishwilldo (not verified)
Posts: 23
Date Joined: 01/01/70
Already have my hand in my
Already have my hand in my pocked for most things I enjoy doing, why add another one! Just my opinion. And the revenue collected would no doubt end up funding something compleatly different for what it was origanly intended for (just my way of thinking). When I go 4x4ing just do what I do, pic up any rubbish you see.
scotto
Posts: 2470
Date Joined: 21/04/08
why add another one you ask?
Because if something like above isnt implemented, then there would be a good chance that the powers to be, could shut it down completely and permanantly.
Although i dont go 4wding regularly, i really enjoy it, but get put off by douchebags doin the wrong thing. My bro was at wilbinga with his 2 young kids last year, sleeping in a tent about 50m from the beach, when a bunch of pissed bogans in patrols came belting over the dunes at 3am, and nearly crashed into his car and tent. Thats the sort of thing that needs to stop.
I would personally like to see a park fee or license, applicable to any individual (not car) in any park or crown or private land. A simple $20 per year fee, or $5 week fee. No licence, $500 spot fine.
Anyfishwilldo (not verified)
Posts: 23
Date Joined: 01/01/70
A fee isn't going to stop
A fee isn't going to stop "pissed bogans" doing what they do... I go 4x4ing almost every week with the kids and camp as much as we can. I personally don't camp in the dunes for the very reason as to what happened to your mate. Fee or no fee that still won't stop things like that happening. I've been going to yeagurap beach for 20 years and for the first 10 it was free.. After that you had to pay, I still see cars in the dunes & doing things they shouldn't be doing... And The fences that had been put in place were damaged last time I was there. Which is now a maintenance thing that requires to pay people to fix. Just increase the fines and make penalties harsher similar to hoon laws. Crush a few 4x4 and people soon get the picture haha.
mw87
Posts: 123
Date Joined: 20/07/11
Beach permits have been
Beach permits have been compuslory on the East Coast for as long as I can remember. If it was to be seriously considered in WA, rather than saying "It'll never work!!!", there would be plenty of aquired data to compare the facts.
Rob H
Posts: 5745
Date Joined: 18/01/12
charging a fee/permit
charging a fee/permit generally is not something I would be in favour of for many reasons including the following
1/ a large protion of the fees is actually absorbed by processing and dealing with collecting the fees-rangers still find it easier to fine people with a drawbar sticking 2 inches out the gate than deal with the real policing
2/ As others have said, charging/paying a fee is for the honest people. Just as hoons doing 180kph wont change by dropping the open road limit to 80kph for the honest people.
3/ Unfortunately (and this is controversial) these sort of issues (fees, restrictions, permits, tight bag limits etc) are predominately a metro region problem, but then spill onto people who choose to live in regional areas as many metro voters dont like others to have freedoms not available in metro.
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
z00m
Posts: 1086
Date Joined: 10/05/14
Over east the rangers were
Over east the rangers were full on as well and if you didn't have your permit in order you were done no matter what. They mostly operated from motorbikes and were largely successful at taming the behaviour of the masses. It still didn't prevent the occasional late night hoon that had been on the turps but it was an isolated incident.
flexn
Posts: 232
Date Joined: 19/03/12
Like most fees that are
Like most fees that are payed to the government, only a small portion would be used to fund what they were intended. It seems most people these days tend to think to fix a problem, you need to through money at it. Generally doesn't work.
Maybe changing peoples attitudes, community support, volunteers, etc would be better then throwing money at something that will probably never be seen again.
Versus
Posts: 918
Date Joined: 06/03/09
I reckon its a good idea,
I reckon its a good idea, would like to hear more from some east-coasters about how that system works.
beachsoul
Posts: 215
Date Joined: 14/06/12
The main idea
Main thing I would like to see is massive logs and tree debris spread through the dunes where people illegally take their 4x4s plus some signage attempting to explain the damage unrestricted access has in the environment.
The logs have worked to a degree at Tims Thicket. They do need a bit of a re do about now in some places as people have found their way through the logs and made tracks