TOPIC: AMBIT CLAIM FOR ACCESS

The delegates meeting wanted a project manager to provide a plan and recruit clubs to develop a series of routes along the Great Dividing Range from Victoria to Queensland. I have offered to do this and will hand over the chair of HRFWDC to Roger Sheath to get this started.

At the meeting today I presented some slides for discussion, Clubs are asked to contribute by providing suggestions for each point below:
1. Routes
2. Special features along the way
3. Camping sites
4. Food, fuel & accommodation
5. Especially towns hit by closures to access
6. It is important that our clubs provide these routes and places in their area so we can link them together from Victoria to Queensland.
7. This is our opportunity to help our Association to put this claim together and win us access to the areas we want to visit.
8. This is our project and it cannot be done without our combined support
Suggested Targets for clubs
Great places to see
Back roads and trails both open or closed
Struggling regional towns
People grateful for our business
Trips to check out ideas

The delegates suggested that a spreadsheet be provided to clubs so that all of us supply the required information. The meeting discussed the value of documenting our spending when on club trips into these towns which have become the victims of "ecotourism". The meeting also agreed that we need a subcommittee to assist the project Manager. Ideas please, what do you think should be covered?

Rob, Nic and I spoke about this on our way home from the meeting today, our thoughts are to concentrated on the purchase items that directly support the towns that are are under pressure. Items we thought of importance,

Fuel
Food supplies
accommodation
entertainment
repairs
souvenirs.

As for the areas we concentrate on, our thoughts is to look state wide and than join the dots together. the key is the towns that need support not the towns that best suit our needs.

The motorhome association have created motorhome friendly towns we need to create 4wd friendly towns.

Rob our thanks and support for taking on this new role.

cheers

Parts of the highlands consisting of relatively flat and, by Australian standards, well-watered land were developed for agricultural and pastoral uses. Such areas include the Atherton Tableland and Darling Downs in Queensland, and the Northern Tablelands, Southern Highlands and Southern Tablelands in New South Wales. Other parts of the highlands are too rugged for agriculture and have been used for forestry.[citation needed] Many parts of the highlands which were not developed are now included in National Parks.

All of mainland Australia's alpine areas, including its highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 metres (7,310 ft) AHD), are part of this range, called the Main Range.[5] The highest areas in southern New South Wales and eastern Victoria are known as the Australian Alps.

The central core of the Great Dividing Range is dotted with hundreds of peaks and is surrounded by many smaller mountain ranges or spurs, canyons, valleys and plains of regional significance. Some of the major plains include the High Plains of South-Eastern Australia, the Southern Highlands the Central highlands and Bogong High Plains of Victoria. Other tablelands considered part of the Great dividing range are the Atherton Tableland, Canberra wine region and the Southern Tablelands.

The Dandenong Ranges, Barrington Tops, Bunya Mountains, Blue Mountains, Liverpool Range, McPherson Ranges and the Moonbi Range are some of the smaller spurs and ranges that make up the greater dividing range. Other notable ranges and tablelands which form part of the Great Dividing Range include the Liverpool Range, Mount Royal Range and the Monaro District. Whilst some of the peaks of the highlands reach respectable heights of a little over 2,000 metres, the age of the range and its erosion mean that most of the mountains are not very steep, and virtually all peaks can be reached without mountaineering equipment.

In some areas, such as the Snowy Mountains, Victorian Alps, the Scenic Rim and the eastern escarpments of the New England region, the highlands form a significant barrier. The eastern escarpment is the site of many spectacular waterfalls which were formed by rivers plunging off the tablelands. In other areas the slopes are gentle and in places the range is barely perceptible.[3]

Well known passes on the range include Coxs Gap, Cunninghams Gap, Dead Horse Gap, Nowlands Gap, and Spicers Gap.

Major cities located on the upland areas of the range include Canberra, Toowoomba and the outer suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns in north Queensland. Many towns and cities are located on the range, and also in lowland areas and foothills adjacent to the highlands. There is a strong natural history and cultural attachment to the Dividing Range region in towns and on many, sometimes remote landholdings. Some of the towns/cities located on the range include:

Canberra
Goulburn - NSW
Cooma - NSW
Jindabyne - NSW
Katoomba - NSW
Oberon - NSW
Bowral - NSW
Bathurst - NSW
Orange - NSW
Armidale - NSW
Scone - NSW
Walcha - NSW
Guyra - NSW
Tenterfield - NSW
Toowoomba - QLD
Stanthorpe - QLD
Warwick - QLD
Kingaroy - QLD
Biloela - QLD
Emerald - QLD
Moranbah - QLD
Atherton - QLD
Mareeba - QLD
Omeo - VIC
Healesville - VIC
Gisborne - VIC
Ballarat - VIC
Ararat - VIC


Protected areas
Much of the range lies within a succession of national parks and other reserves, most of the national parks are listed below, there are almost double the amount of state forests.

Alpine National Park – VIC
Bald Rock National Park – NSW
Barrington Tops National Park – NSW
Baw Baw National Park – VIC
Blue Mountains National Park – NSW
Border Ranges National Park – NSW
Brindabella National Park – NSW
Brisbane Ranges National Park – VIC
Budawang National Park – NSW
Bunya Mountains National Park – QLD
Burrowa-Pine Mountain National Park – VIC
Cathedral Rock National Park – NSW
Conondale National Park – QLD
Cunnawarra National Park – NSW
Dandenong Ranges National Park – VIC
Deua National Park – NSW
Dharug National Park – NSW
Gibraltar Range National Park – NSW
Girraween National Park – QLD/NSW
Grampians National Park – VIC
Guy Fawkes River National Park – NSW
Heathcote-Graytown National Park
Kanangra-Boyd National Park – NSW
Kosciuszko National Park – NSW
Lake Eildon National Park – VIC
Lamington National Park – QLD
Morton National Park – NSW
Mount Buffalo National Park – VIC
Mummel Gulf National Park – NSW
Namadgi National Park – ACT
Nattai National Park – NSW
New England National Park – NSW
Nowendoc National Park – NSW
Oxley Wild Rivers National Park – NSW
Snowy River National Park – VIC
South East Forest National Park – NSW
Springbrook National Park- QLD
Sundown National Park – QLD
Toonumbar National Park – NSW
Wadbilliga National Park – NSW
Washpool National Park – NSW
Werrikimbe National Park – NSW
Wollemi National Park – NSW
Yarra Ranges National Park – VIC
Yengo National Park – NSW

Hi Rob, we need a name or the Ambit Claim, should we run a competition for a name? I'm happy to put up a prize for the best suggestion.

cheers

I have asked for suggestions and so far have received one. I will pass on your suggestion for a naming competition to the Executive Committee tonight, 2nd March during my outline work to be done.

Lee, yes we really need to get a name quickly. From what we discussed tonight about a strategy and the initial time-frame to deliver the first bit a name would be great.

To add on to your bits really we are looking at staying off the beaten track from Tom Groggin on the Vic border to Bald Rock NP on the QLD border.

After Rob and Jacqui left we were bandying around 'Kelly's Claim' for the route!