Save Ginninderra Falls!

Furthermore, it seems that the original message in the posting has been lost in the discussion of access to the falls.

It is already environmentally zoned!!!!! This is NOT stopping the owner from MINING IT!!!!! What is the point of discussing how to access the area, or whether to leave the owner alone if he is mining an area which was zoned specifically to protect it?

Who has called Yass Valley as the original posting called us all to do? You may find this is above their heads without public support to save the area. Come on guys, do something about it –

progress said :

Come on, please.
There are so many beautiful places around here, around Australia, maybe even your own back yard is beautiful! If it is, (imagine) does it give me the right to it, to walk on it, to sleep on it? Where is your common sense? We either respect property rights or not? After all we have had 200+ years to carve out beautiful places, so they are available to the public, that is why we have so many fantastic national and state parks in Australia. Leave the land owner alone, and for those of you that at one time in the past had the opportunity to visit this beautiful place, be grateful!

Generally speaking I agree with you. Let me, however, address a couple of your points.

After all we have had 200+ years to carve out beautiful places, so they are available to the public, that is why we have so many fantastic national and state parks in Australia.

Didn’t those become National Parks by people wanting them preserved and available to all, and getting them declared as such?

And what we are discussing is the fact that it used to be available to all, and now it isn’t. While there are many places of equal or greater value in Australia, their are not many places around Canberra which have a large waterfall, swimming, canoeeing, rock climbing and the like in one location five minutes drive from my house.

Come on, please.
There are so many beautiful places around here, around Australia, maybe even your own back yard is beautiful! If it is, (imagine) does it give me the right to it, to walk on it, to sleep on it? Where is your common sense? We either respect property rights or not? After all we have had 200+ years to carve out beautiful places, so they are available to the public, that is why we have so many fantastic national and state parks in Australia. Leave the land owner alone, and for those of you that at one time in the past had the opportunity to visit this beautiful place, be grateful!

Someone should slap a heritage listing application on the falls to see what happens.

Absolutely true p1. Think about it – in this day and age, everyone is scared of being sued. It’s easier for a council to be over – ridden and stay under the radar, especially if few of it’s rate payers actually see the area. If a tree falls in the forrest and no – one sees it, did it really fall?

But try talking to your ACT members about it. I bet bet bet they tell you it’s a NSW issue.

Loopholes said :

No Baloney, it’s all well to say you can get there by going up the river. Too bad there won’t be much to see but erosion if the surrounding environmentally zoned area is mined. Wait for this guy to over – ride a little council by looking for loopholes in state planning legislation. There’s always a way when money’s involved and people don’t question or take action.

In addition to this, the fact that the only road access passes through the ACT, means that the Yass council really doesn’t care that much for that bit of the world. At least it seems that way to me. Maybe the ACT could make some sort of deal with the owner to take the land with the falls in exchange for some land somewhere else?

No Baloney, it’s all well to say you can get there by going up the river. Too bad there won’t be much to see but erosion if the surrounding environmentally zoned area is mined. Wait for this guy to over – ride a little council by looking for loopholes in state planning legislation. There’s always a way when money’s involved and people don’t question or take action.

Oddly, google maps shows something called Ginninderra Park, although it doesn’t seem to follow the exact property boundaries.

There was at least one death and one broken neck that I know about, although the broken neck recovered relatively well. Mostly people climbing to the top of those falls, off the path, through a fence and past the warning signs.

If you want a nice waterhole, come and check out the big hole in the ground where the next Unilodge is being built (Barry Drive/Marcus Clarke St).

I used to go there a lot. Camping, fishing, bushwalking and climbing. Good memories. My brother and I nearly killed ourselves climbing up some cliffs one day. Dangerous stuff. I can see how liability insurance would be a factor in places like these.

They used to hire canoes at the river.