A plan to greatly limit off-leash dog walking and beach access in Crescent Head is currently sitting on the desk of Minister for Environment and Heritage James Griffin.
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It's part of a Draft Plan of Management proposed by the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS).
President of Crescent Head Dog Walking Group (CHDaWG) Jann Eason, is doing everything she can to stop it being approved.
Passionate about her community and the freedom to walk dogs on Crescent Head's lengthy beaches, Ms Eason has been busy leading a community group and organising rallies to fight the changes.
"We are not asking for anything, we just don't want anything taken away," said Ms Eason.
On May 12, with the support of Member for Oxley Melinda Pavey and local Chris Dockrill, Ms Eason made her case to the minister.
Interim agreement
As a lover of animals and the environment, and a proud resident of Crescent Head for over 40 years, Ms Eason has done her homework.
She presented research regarding the proposed changes to Goolawah National Park, Goolawah Regional Park and Limeburners Creek National Park, but her overall point was this; she does not believe that limiting dog walking and access to Crescent Head beaches is necessary or acceptable. Neither do her supporters.
"Killick Beach is 14km long. We have been given 200m of off-leash dog walking and one access point. This is unacceptable", she said.
Ms Eason found the minister to be "open, honest and caring" but she was concerned that he had been shielded by the "bureaucrats" of NPWS.
"The minister had not seen any of my letters, there was no correspondence", Ms Eason claims.
Currently there is an interim agreement between NPWS, CHDaWG, Goolawah Consultative Committee and Kempsey Shire Council covering dog limitations. It will remain in place until a suitable alternative has been negotiated and implemented.
The alternative access route for dog walking proposed by NPWS is a track off residential street Skyline Terrace, which Ms Eason says is unacceptable because it "has no parking, is steep and slippery, and its environmental vandalism to interfere with littoral forest".
She has also been told by council that there is no current budget dedicated to making the track safer and more accessible.
Ms Pavey walked the proposed access track on August 17 and agreed it was not a suitable solution.
"It's impossible for prams, elderly and people with disabilities," she said.
She also hopes the minister does not approve the draft plan.
Ms Pavey believes the expectation for council and crown land to spend "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to make the track accessible is "ridiculous", especially considering how steep the route is.
"National Parks is making this all about lines on maps, and not about the community."
'Common sense must prevail'
After Ms Pavey attempted the walk, she spoke with the Minister's Chief of Staff, pleading for "common sense to prevail".
"If they [the NPWS] want the community to support National Parks, then National Parks also have to respect the community they exist in," she said.
Those against the draft plan believe reasonable access will not affect wildlife.
"Responsible dog owners do not let their dogs roam. Not everyone should be punished for the minority" said Ms Pavey.
Ms Eason believes NPWS are only making changes now because they are currently under review.
She claims "NPWS are being lazy" by lumping all three national parks surrounding Crescent Head together under the one plan.
"You can't have the same plan for recreational parks and wilderness parks. It doesn't make sense, so we want them to separate these," she said.
Her expectations now are that NPWS, Kempsey Shire Council and the minister will consider the community's response before "signing off" on the plan.
"Our expectations are firstly that the minister will inform us about how he is feeling about this after talking to our local member [Melinda Pavey] and our community.
"We hope he will communicate how he plans to fix this problem. We don't want to sit here and wait for the bureaucrats to pressure the minister to sign off on a plan that clearly has no input from the community, and [which] was written in isolation."
Ministerial update
The Macleay Argus requested an update from the minister's office on his response to the draft plan. His staff requested that NPWS provide the additional information.
Their spokesperson responded: "the draft Plan of Management for Goolawah National Park was subject to an extensive consultation process during its preparation, followed by three months of public exhibition, during which 149 submissions were received.
"The Plan of Management process is in its next phase, which is consideration by relevant advisory committees, before recommendations are provided to the minister for the environment".
It says input received from the community will be considered before finalising the plan.
Ms Eason says Crescent Head residents are not against NPWS.
"This is not a tirade against National Parks. Crescent Head residents want to live in cooperation with them".
She is, however, under the impression that NPWS are pressuring council, government and the community to accept what they say goes.
"We have people who just want to tell us who's boss", she said.
Crescent Head residents rely on the beaches for dog walking as there is not enough green space in the town. Dogs are not permitted off leash on a sporting field, children's park, 10m from a swimming pool, hospital, or where food is being prepared or served.
"For National Parks to be pressuring council about not allowing dogs off leash on the beaches is major for the people of Crescent Head because there is nowhere else to go," she said.
Ms Eason was excited to meet with the minister in May and was left feeling he was on the side of CHDawG, however, after four months and no still no word, she is beginning to feel "frightened".
"He [James Griffin] did say he would get back to us. I'm concerned he is going to sign off without us knowing what he was prepared to consider, and what requests he will not. I don't like the idea of the plan getting signed off without the community knowing what the outcome is,.
"We would not happy about that. I think that would be totally unacceptable".
Voices taken away
Ms Eason is under the impression that National Parks "just ticks the box" when it comes to listening to the responses of the community.
"They say that there has been a review, and that they've listened to the people, but they don't listen. They just say that they are going to win this, and there will be no changes to the plan, and that the people just have to accept that what NPWS says, goes."
With over 1500 signatures petitioning against the plan Ms Eason is concerned about conflict in the community.
"If people don't agree with it, then there is going to be civil disobedience", she said.
"We feel cheated. We feel overwhelmingly that this is wrong. It's unprincipled."
Members of CHDaWG are not only passionate about walking their dogs without fear of being fined, they do not want to see resources wasted and freedoms taken away "for the sake of it".
"This community only wants to keep what it already had. It's a lifestyle, it's part of the reason we bought into the community. It's the way we have lived our lives for over 40 years."
