Stockton beach permit hike
if you can afford a 4wd toy and the days off to play with it then you can afford 88 a year for the privilege. if not no one's going to miss you.
Beach driving permits are the ultimate piss take.
You’re only supposed to drive below the high tide line , can’t see too much maintenance costs involved there.
Pure cash grab.
What’s with the call of “ privilege “ to drive up the beach ?
Not too many opportunities to do so these days . Maybe you won’t be happy till the entire world is bundled up behind velvet rope with an admission charge to watch it from afar ? Fuck that.
You wouldn’t happen to live in a city would you Wallpaper ?
I maintain several permits for beaches along the eastern seaboard. I also drive on many that the public can't when I'm commercially fishing. Permit prices vary greatly and in some regions the fees are actually used to better the area , in most cases not.
@Wallpaper , if you think I,m some dickhead who uses my 4WD as a toy ,on my days off,, then I'd say to you that assumption is the mother of all fuck ups. And frankly , the old beast isn't worth that much.
Call me a cynic but the land council in charge of this is proposing to use the money to build coach terminals and infrastructure to cater for mainly international tourists,, so they can go quad bike riding and sandboarding , or for an 'eco tour' over the dunes in a big 4wd tour bus.
Meanwhile , the people paying for this capital venture will see more fences and no go signs , 'tour operators only'..
What a joke, money grab at its finest.
You can drive on the beach for free in WA but......full recreational fishing licence $261, $12-20 to park at a metro boat ramp, Rangers fine you if carpark full and you park on a grass reserve not impacting anyone.
WA car rego also has Compulsory third party, should be part of your licence as can only drive one car at a time, blatant money grab.
Cordon of public land for private use then sell it back to the owners - that’s you , me and every other Australian.
It’s all the rage , baby !
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/it-s-complicated-how-your-nye-celebr...
Couldn't agree more Blowin, shameful shit. Another example is the boat ramp at Bayview. The usual NB parking stickers aren't valid for that area, so if you are out for a few hours it is a minimum of $40. To add insult to injury the machines don't work reliably so if you get the shits after 15 minutes of farting around with them and park without a ticket you are suddenly up for a couple of hundred.
$40 to park your car whilst you fish !?!?!?
That’s incredible.
Don't you just shove alfoil in the slot and then ring them to say it's farked.....?.???
Way cheaper. Works every time, sort of. Just don't get caught.
A lot more areas now have number plate cameras as well as security cams monitoring 'illegal' parking. You have to enter your rego number in the ticket machines as well , Nelson Bay breakwall for example.
Doesn't byron have a ranger car cruising through with number plate camera attached to the car?
Computer says 'non compliant' and tubby ranger must get out of car to fine or move on the car park hangers.
Robocop ranger in his hyundai might be good for efficiency and economy, but sadly gives a bad impression of an over stepping, over bearing; matrix like police cyber state nuisance
A bit of a sad blow for the vibrant car park scene that used to develop too!
Avoid Byron at all costs, it's an A-grade clusterfuck.
I agree Andy. Was a clusterfuck when I was last there in 1985.
The anger is growing . https://www.portstephensexaminer.com.au/story/5829105/sand-dunes-permit-...
Hmmm an increase from about 8 cents a day to around 24 cents a day (annual permit) soo outrageous darling.....
Fuck the government charging you to drive on the beach.
Not sure where you get your money that you feel that the government is entitled to more of it for providing not a single bit of service.
Like most I work for living and have done so for the best part of 40 years. I have no problem with the concept of paying a fee to utilise a public resource. My point is that its not that different to a subscription to this very platform, which caused some backlash......
Totally different - this is a private site.
And at least you know what you're getting for your money.
Public land is a different matter.
For example, North Stradbroke Island introduced beach access fees ( now $46.80 per year) over 20 years ago - there's still the same amenities, same degraded campsites in the foredunes.
Same old question - where does the money go??
And being charged to stand on public land on the Sydney harbour foreshore on New Years Eve??
Fucking hell...
That NYE Sydney public land fee is the ultimate "Get Off My Lawn". We can increase the size of the city by 1,000,000 people because growth, but Get Them Off My Lawn!
Sydney City Council pays for the fireworks and the State Gov goes for the money grab.
The New Australia just gets uglier.
@P'tai,, No one has a problem with fees that serve a purpose . In this case it seems to far outweigh the benefits received to the paying public. If you have some insight into this specific area I would be glad to hear it.
A major backlash over this yet to come, but I feel it will.
5 years ago a protest rally was held over camping and track closure issues on the same beach. The NPWS and WLC didn't get the message then. And I doubt they'll get it now. If you want an idea of the numbers of pissed off people then check this clip ,,
The commercial operations that operate there have taken over and international tourists have more rights than the regular users.
Very interesting. Our favourite Alpine village to stay in (freehold) was bought out to be turned into similar international tourist based resort - anyone with more recent/better knowledge feel free to correct. Not unique to Australia, is the island east of Bali to become a large tourist resort on its south facing beaches, story here on Swellnet?
Is this the kind of thing that the Shooters & Fishers party was established to fight?
"The commercial operations that operate there have taken over and international tourists have more rights than the regular users."
Fraser Island anyone?
The privitization of public lands will be a big thing over the next few decades. I read this as being at the lower end of the scale, but fits into the same story being told out down here in Tassie, on Kangaroo Island, up to Hitchenbrook and probably in countless other places too. Governments have resisted protecting public land for decades and decades, and every hard won hectare is thanks to ordinary folk giving up time, money and parts of their life to protect it. Now governments are seeing the value in tourism (sorry, 'eco tourism') and they're doing whatever they can to privatize it, capitalize, and exclude the public from it.
National parks are basically just green zones awaiting a development opportunity these days.
Anyone travelling to the area in 2019 and looking for a 4wd beach permit can expect a bit of hit to the pocket.
Fees are increasing substantially , nearly 200% next week .as of the 1/1/2019..
Little to no warning has been given , about a week, with the same consideration given to user and community consultation. I imagine this increase was thought of in advance , and the timing of its release and the short notice given will catch many January tourists off guard.
The fee will increase from an annual $30 to $88.