Byfield Area Management Plan. The final Byfield Area Management Plan has now been released. CCC congratulates the government on implementing most of the recommendations of the draft plan. However we are concerned that a compromise was adopted which will allow vehicles to access the southern end of Five Rocks Beach (Three Rivers Beach). This means that there will be very little to stop four wheel drives going north to military training area at Three Rivers where so much damage has been done in the past. QPWS must increase patrols and education to ensure that vehicles do not go north of the access point. CCC totally supports the prohibition of vehicles from the Orange Bowl and the Willies Creek area. Driving into the Orange Bowl and surrounding dunes by four wheel driving hoons in the past has caused appalling destruction and vandalism of a beautiful natural area. QPWS will also need additional resources to police this restriction.
See our new “critter sensitive” sand tyres!!
The studies published in 2007 and 2008 by Schlacher et al. show that beach traffic can substantially modify the physical environment on sandy beaches. Schlacher also demonstrates that beach driving can impact ghost crab numbers. In addition beach driving contributes to erosion by reducing the cohesion between sand particles.
Below are links to the articles:
• Sandy beaches at the brink (pdf – 181kb) [Schlacher et al. 2007]
• Vehicles versus conservation of invertebrates on sandy beaches (pdf – 817kb) [Schlacher et al. 2007] Physical impacts caused by off-road vehicles to sandy beaches (pdf – 2.2Mb) [Schlacher and Thompson 2008]
• Impacts of off-road vehicles on macrobenthic assemblages on sandy beaches (pdf – 497kb) [Schlacher et al. 2008 ].