Gippsland Farmer May 2021 Edition

Phone: (03) 5135 4444

May, 2021

CATTLEMAN RAISES HIS CONCERNS By MICHELLE SLATER

A LICOLA cattleman has raised concerns over state government regulations to allow people to camp on Crown and water frontages with grazing licences. Glenfalloch Station owner Will Paul owns nearly 5000 hectares with a grazing licence along the Macalister River. Mr Paul said he feared increasing public access to Crown land would saddle land owners with “park ranger type duties”. “One of the issues in this particularly is that a road runs close to the river, but there is private land between the road and river in most areas,” Mr Paul said. “The way the changes have been communicated, the public would be excused in thinking you could walk across private land to access the river frontage. This confusion will create issues.” The state government is changing the regulations as part of a 2018 election commitment to guarantee access to fishing and camping on Crown land river frontages.

Dynamic duo Willung girl Grace Scott, 11, and her kelpie Cruize preparing for the sheepdog trials at the East Gippsland Field Days. FULL COVERAGE INSIDE photograph michelle slater

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However, the changes would take into account that not all river frontages would be suitable for camping due to significant environmental or cultural values or the narrowness of the frontage. The Paul family took over the station six years ago and have invested significant efforts into revegetating the river frontage. River users such as local fishing groups and kayakers already have access to the banks for day use but the proposed regulations would mean people could set up camp for as long as 28 days. Mr Paul said he had written a submission proposing that the government create more dedicated camping areas with facilities to take away the ambiguity between public and private land. Station manager Dane Martin said they already had problems with people walking across paddocks to access the river where cows were calving and they even had animals shot by shooters. Continued on page 3

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