ACAV are now kicking off their fundraising drive in an effort to top up the Access Fund!!
ACAV T-Shirts Now Available
To kick off the fundraising, we now have Blue ACAV T-shirts for sale. Be quick to place your order as there are only a limited number available. T-shirts are $40 each and available in Men’s and Women’s sizes.
On March 6th 2019, before ACAV was a twinkle in anyone’s eye, I worked with a legal friend to put in three Freedom of Information Requests to Parks Victoria. We requested impact studies relating to Grampians rock climbing along with all relevant rock climbing related communications with Aboriginal Victoria and Traditional Owners.
Now, six months later we received a response to the third and final FOI request.
What is going on in our government agencies when they can get away with this flagrant contravention of the Freedom of Information Act 1982?
This response is 5 months late and only two out of 172 relevant pages are provided in full.
Our legal boffins will pick the bones out of this meagre information and we may come up with a few avenues of opportunity to encourage Parks Victoria to protect the Grampians properly in the future. Putting up a handful of signs banning climbers does not protect cultural and environmental values.
We have all seen the damage that continues to be done by day-visitors and feral animals. Come on Parks Victoria – we have a raft of environmental initiatives that you have so far ignored.
Eagle eyed ACAV members are welcome to assist and comment.
We will ensure that our government agencies are held to account, one way or another. This is my new favourite word:
We have a major challenge ahead of us. Please consider making a donation to the access fund
The ACAV believes that all climbing clubs, groups, associations and businesses can work together as a united front to promote climbing as a healthy, environmental and culturally minded activity.
Next week on Wednesday 18 September, the ACAV will be hosting a meeting for all Victorian climbing clubs and related organisations and business to come and learn more about who and what the ACAV are.
This initiative is to share with key stakeholders in our climbing community, the purpose of the ACAV and what the ACAV have been working on with regards to access issues.
The agenda is as follows
Welcome
Who is on the ACAV Committee
What is the ACAV all about?
Key Current Activities:
Legal situation and Parks Victoria
Climbing Management Plan
5. Working with other Victorian climbing organisations:
Clubs
Founding Body
Parks Victoria Climbing Round table Meetings
The invitation has been sent to all committee members of the following clubs, organisations and businesses. If your club is not represented in this list or you are a committee member of one of those below but have not received an email invitation, feel welcome to email the ACAV secretary via secretary.vic@climb.org.au
The ACAV Committee believes that Parks Victoria displayed major bureaucratic overreach in February 2019 by instituting Grampians rock climbing prohibitions. This episode has far-reaching consequences for the public good in terms of access to public lands for everyone. There is far more to this story than contained within the legal domain and we are at a critical point for future generations. Many user groups are facing similar lockouts from public lands.
The exclusion of respectful park users is a great detriment to park management and an opportunity has so far been missed to blend the knowledge of the Traditional Owners into genuine and collaborative park management. Respectful and knowledgeable park users are the natural allies of the Traditional Owners in seeking to bring future generations together to celebrate culture and the environment in a spirit of mutual respect and understanding.
On 25th July 2019, ACAV received this letter from the Manager, Legal Services of Parks Victoria in response to our requests for the reasons behind the Grampians climbing prohibitions.
In response, the ACAV has funded formal legal advice regarding the legality of the set aside determination used by Parks Victoria to prohibit rock climbing at various locations within the Grampians. We would like to thank ACAV members and supporters whose membership fees and donations have contributed to obtaining this advice.
Following advice from Senior Counsel, a letter from our lawyers was issued to Parks Victoria on Monday 2nd September 2019, asserting that the set aside determination is invalid and proposing that the set aside determination should be revoked. You can read the full letter here.
In simple terms the letter conveys that:
1. The climbing prohibitions are invalid as they currently stand.
2. The climbing prohibitions are “legally unreasonable” and “disproportionate to the supposed mischief to be addressed”.
The letter gives Parks Victoria seven days to provide a substantive response, without which we have instructed our lawyers to commence proceedings for a judicial review.
The ACAV will continue to provide updates on a regular basis as information comes to hand and when we have a better idea of the position Parks Victoria wants to take towards the ACAV and Grampians climbing access.
With the potential for the requirement of additional legal counsel and fees, we need your help to top up the ACAV Access Fund. To assist with the incursion of future costs, please consider giving an extra donation via this link.
The ACAV Committee would like to thank the climbing community for its continued support and commitment to resolving access issues in the Grampians.
Held at Parks Victoria Bourke Street and Halls Gap offices via video conferencinglink.
Six months after the announcement of the world’s most extensive rock climbing bans in the Grampians National Park, our land manager Parks Victoria held a Rock Climbing Round Table meeting on Tuesday 20th August 2019.
This long overdue consultation has been prompted by mounting
pressure on the land manager from a respectful yet insistent climbing
community. Climbers have made strong representations across many platforms in
support of climbing as a respected and beneficial activity.
ACAV members will be interested to know the key issues under
discussion. We have been asked to omit direct quotations from this meeting and
be mindful of any sensitive items. Hence we have not spoken for other rock
climbing attendees. Parks Victoria will be issuing formal minutes within a week
or two. These were the main items under discussion.
Parks Victoria Representatives
Jeff Floyd
Parks Victoria, Chairman
Stuart Hughes
Parks Victoria
Carol Nichols
Parks Victoria
Lucy Marshall
Parks Victoria
Simon Talbot
Parks Victoria
Climbing Representatives
Adam Merrick
Western Victorian Climbing Club
Andrew Knight
Outdoors Victoria
Coralie Reich
RMIT Outdoors Club
Jackson Freeman
La Trobe University Mountaineering Club
Mike Tomkins
Australian Climbing Association Victoria
Paula Toal
Victorian Climbing Club
Philip Goebel
Sport Climbing Victoria
Philipp Hammes
Alpenverein
Riley Edwards
ClimbingQTs
Romain Thevenot
Sport Climbing Australia
Independent Chair
Mark Dingle
Deloitte Australia
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ACAV Meeting Notes
Jeff Floyd, Parks Victoria Chairman hosted the meeting.
Parks Victoria invited rock climbing representatives on the basis of their involvement in the Founding Council.
An independent facilitator, Mark Dingle (Deloitte Australia) chaired the meeting.
The meeting agenda was open ended.
Parks Victoria expressed surprise at the scale of the bans, the global importance of Grampians rock climbing and the depth of concern within the climbing community.
Parks Victoria expressed a willingness to facilitate wider discussions on Grampians rock climbing under this forum, to bring Traditional Owners and rock climbers together. It was noted that the Traditional Owners are contemplating this possibility.
Parks Victoria will provide information at the next round table meeting regarding ongoing archaeological survey work in the Grampians. This is to give the rock climbing community some insight into the relevant cultural heritage issues.
Parks Victoria stated a clear motivation to support rock climbing under a Healthy Parks, Healthy People strategy.
ACAV requested the proactive assistance of Parks Victoria in the major task of rehabilitating the reputation of climbers in Victoria, following the events of the last six months.
ACAV welcomed this initiative to begin comprehensive consultation with the rock climbing community.
ACAV proposed the major objective of creating a Victorian Climbing Management Plan as an Appendix to the 2021 Grampians Landscape Management Plan. This ACAV draft document is in progress. Community consultation phase to follow. ACAV to be a paid consultant to clarify the legal status of the VCMP within the GLMP.
ACAV stated that cliff-by-cliff risk assessment works were under way, initially as a desktop exercise using climbing community expertise. This is to mitigate known environmental risks to ISO 31000:2018 Risk Management standards. To be expanded to cover cultural heritage risks subject to further knowledge.
An executive summary of the ACAV Environmental Action Plan will be forwarded to Parks Victoria for review.
ACAV suggested that it would be beneficial for a senior Parks Victoria representative to undertake an overseas study visit to a rock climbing location that has successfully managed rock climbing in a similar context with cultural heritage and environmental challenges.
ACAV offered existing research data into climbing visitation in the Grampians and offered to assist with the promotion of climbing in a sustainable manner.
ACAV reiterated a request for ACAV representation on the Stakeholder Reference Group panel for the proposed Grampians Landscape Management Plan process. The single place available has been granted to Paula Toal as the assumed representative of the Founding Council. ACAV noted that the Founding Council is at concept stage and that it holds no authority in the area of climbing access. Furthermore there has been no selection process for the leadership of the Founding Council as there is no membership to formulate a vote. ACAV has been denied a place on the Stakeholder Reference Group and will raise this issue at a later date.
This meeting is likely to be the first in a series of Rock Climbing Round Table meetings. Follow up meeting to be advised, likely to be in 4 weeks’ time.
At the end of July the ACAV Committee asked members of the climbing community to assist us with influencing policy development by making a submission to the various strategies and plans currently open to community feedback here.
One of those plans was the Engage Victoria initiative by Parks Victoria to assist with shaping the next Grampians Landscape Management Plan.
Parks Victoria have now released dates for workshops in various locations across Victoria for members of the community to attend. The objective of the workshops is to collect input from the community and stakeholders to inform the Grampians Landscape Management Plan.
Workshop dates and times are:
Halls Gap workshop, Thursday 5 September 2019, 6.30-8.30pm
Laharum workshop, Tuesday 10 September 2019, 6.30-8.30pm
North Melbourne workshop, Thursday 12 September 2019, 6.00-8.00pm
Halls Gap drop-in, Tuesday 17 September 2019, 12.00-3.00pm
Dunkeld workshop, Tuesday 17 September 2019, 6.30-8.30pm
North Melbourne workshop, Thursday 19 September 2019, 6.00-8.00pm
The ACAV Committee encourages all members of the climbing community to sign up to a workshop to ensure that climbing is embedded in the future planning of the Grampians National Park/Gariwerd. This is a critical strategy that climbers should take the time to provide input.
Please note that places for each workshop are limited. RSVP now to reserve your spot and opportunity to have a say in the future of climbing. Please share this communication to ensure that climbers are well represented at each workshop so that rock climbing in the Grampians National Park/Gariwerd is protected for future generations of users.
Following the ACAV Annual General Meeting on 11th July, the ACAV Executive Committee held its initial committee meeting on Wednesday 24th July 2019. Below are some key messages and updates that were emailed to ACAV members last week. There is also a post on the ACAV website outlining key strategy documents which we are encouraging members to become involved in – more info at the bottom of this update.
The following meeting report describes the convoluted negotiations that occurred in attempts by Parks Victoria to keep Licensed Tour Operators running climbing activities at Summerday Valley. It’s a rambling tale that is still being played out.
If you want a snapshot of the the meeting outcome, scroll to the end for the “bookable sites” images that Parks Victoria issued on 29th July.
It is important to ensure the benefits of climbing and related activities are on the political agenda and recognised at the policy level. The following strategies are currently open for consultation. The ACAV is preparing submissions for each of these and are seeking interested volunteers with experience in submission writing to assist. Please get in touch via acav@climb.org.au.
ACAV has received the first of two Freedom of Information (FOI) requests that were submitted earlier this year.
ACAV pursued the FOI avenue due to the lack of information available about the rationale for the wide sweeping rock climbing bans across the Grampians National Park. There were efforts to obtain information directly from Parks Victoria however responses were not forthcoming.
Australian Climbing Association (Vic) Inc. 