Trailer ban on the simpson

G'day,

they don't have much to work with, easier to ban trailers than fourbys. the next step (after trailers) would possibly be to ban those who are not an affiliated member of the ANFWDC....let's hope it does not come to that.

let's also hope outback does not ((for those not living (near) there already)) become reachable only by the "well heeled explorer."

bob hope.

Is this serious?????
The Simpson Desert area is like 400kms x 300kms large and we are worried about an 8 foot track getting damaged and the odd plant getting run over????
So freekin what.........

Move it over 20feet,,, make new tracks......
Things will repair and revegetate....

Cape York Overland Telegraph Track never ever gets closed or repaired (apart from Telstra last year), and Cape York isnt suffering..
Nor will The Simpson....
4 windy days go by and you can barely make out the track anyway... SHEESH..

You have to wonder if there's another reason like people abandoning stuck or damaged trailers that are worth less than a recovery bill.
Or is it another way of restricting numbers?

Now i see they've changed their name ,here in NSW at least, to Environment and Climate Change from NPWS they may see their roles as changing and becoming more topical and important, just what we need :((( Eco-nazis with a new mission...

I just got back from the Simpson and I would have to agree with the trailer ban. I also wish there was a way to enforce suitable tyre pressures.

The state of the French Line has to be seen to be believed! It has deteriorated so much in the two years since I last went that it made it quite an unpleasant experience for our west to east party. The QAA line is much the same. Big trenches cut, large steps up every face and bypasses cut around almost every dune. At least the WAA was in good order. I personally watched a GU with Chev V8 Diesel loaded with 4 burly blokes, a lot of gear and towing an Ultimate camper rip the sand hills to pieces. It became bogged regularly and left enormous trenches where it's driver simply fed in more right boot in an attempt to move the monstrous thing along. Then we watched a guy try and drive an unladen 120 series up Big Red. After 5 attempts he gave up citing over the UHF that he was too lazy to be bothered dropping tyre pressures. And then there was the group of "Diff Lock Heros" in GQ's GU's & 80's who were attempting the steep track at Big Red. It seemed that maybe to have to drop pressures is to "wimp out" amongst this mob. So they left a real nice mess of that one as well, although it didn't look like any actually made it over. Would love to find them and tell them that my "Soft" DID Pajero made it up on my first attempt.

This was all in a year where the sand was well packed from recent rains - so much so that on 15psi I was actually able to idle up Big Red at 10kph. Go figure!

Pat.

This is not too hard to figure out. Owing to the irresponsible actions of a few, authorities have now obtained 'evidence' capable of supporting their decisions. Same thing will happen elsewhere if people continue to dump their rubbish all over the place, go off-road in areas incapable of sustaining such activities. enter and use tracks that are signposted as CLOSED, ripping them up and costing Councils and ratepayers a small firtune to repair them. Given time, the only permitted areas of travel in much of this country will be limited to sealed/bitumen roads. To all those that have contributed to any of the above, thanks very much, you should be proud of yourselves.

Mad Cowz(an apt name...lol)

It is not that a few have stuffed it for everyone. That is a total misconception.

Every year almost without fail the tracks get covered by new sand and the first vehciles across the desert after summer bed the tracks down. But National Parks want to take the easy way out. Banning trailers will not solve the problem.

The fact it that there is too much unregulated usage of the popular tracks in the Simpson Desert. The recreational industry has boomed over the past 10 years with Camper Trailer and Caravan Sales hitting new highs. After a while of travelling normal bush roads and tracks travellers want to attempt to drive the Simpson. Many travellers have no comprehension of desert travel and tyre pressures for sand driving and because there is very little 'supervision' in the desert, Gung-ho idiots and novices alike do environmental damage to the tracks on a temporary basis as there is no one to 'police' the traffic

SA Dept of Env and Heritage and Queensland National Parks have not kept up with the pace of tourism with far too few rangers on the ground.

My view is that there should be proper entrance gates at all accesses of the park where informative National Parks staff could explain to travellers what their responsibilities are as far as desert travel goes and to get them to drop their tyre pressures before entering the park. They can also check the suitability of some vehicles. Most people have some respect for authority and will take in to consideration the rules of desert travel set down in a pamhlet or such.

I came across a party of senior citz on the French Line in 2005 bogged to their eyeballs on a dune and trying to physically dig themselves out. I asked what tyre pressures they were running and they said 30psi. I said drop them to 10, reverse out and then pump them up to 16 and drive away. These people were not towing trailers! A similar incident happened on the CSR in the same year. On both occasions I was told where to go in colourful language.

This is the mentality you have to deal with many desert travellers.

I have done most of the desert tracks with and without a trailer and yes, on occasions, it has been difficult to get over a particular dune, but nothing is insurmountable and a bit of ingenuity is needed from time to time. I am glad however that I have done all these tracks before the mad rush and will most likely not go there again


Cheers

Maybe National Parks should adopt the same approach as the station you cross to get to Steep Point in WA. Several big notices saying something like "If we measure your tyres pressures at more than 20 psi we will charge you an extra $30"

People's attitudes are amazing.


Max

Just a thought, maybe it's the various Parks Services (SA & Qld) way of changing the future management practices of the area to try and reduce the overall traffic pressures that appear to be increasingly applied to the Simpson these days??

I.E. No trailers, closed periods and maybe limited numbers of vehicle permits issued to cross will be the future norm??

$105 for a permit to cross the Simpson. How many of these are sold each year? Surely this would cover a few repairs and wages to police the area?

I thought drifting sand fixed things up each year.

I have an Adventure Off road trailer but if crossing the Simpson I would take a Swag. Just think how much it would cost to retrieve it?

I have never crossed the Simpson it is something we would like to do, but to be honest if it is like driving up Pitt Street with idiot hoons then count me out.

cheers Eric

Yea mate- this has been on the cards for a while now. I did post the fact a few months back- and got most of the 'informed' replies that you got here..
I'll be out there in just 3 weeks (but who's counting) so it'll be interesting to see what's going on. I did the trip in 00- when those damn C/Ts weren't as popular as they are now...

Well I'm buggered if I know how they are going to police this.

Are they going to set up a Desert Border control point?
How are they going to staff if?

More stupid bureaucracy at work.

Bill.

OK OK It was me. I buggered the Simpson with my trailer in 2003.
I would like to say sorry to everyone who has been inconvenienced in anyway, however small, since that thoughtless selfish act on my part.