Offroad-Express

MOUNT FREDERICK SOMETIMES KNOWN AS VELCRO MOUNTAIN HAS BEEN CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC . REASON GIVEN IS THE PROXIMITY OF MINING IN THE AREA IS CONSIDERED A HAZARD. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST TRACKS ON THE PLATEAU <DENNISTON>.

Thanks Flag, That is not such good news. There is very little like it in NZ

Sounds like a bit of a poor excuse or is there new mining next to it?
Glen

bugger, well lest we had a go to get there with nuts

that sux , is a great track.
who closed it , the council or "the mining company". Gate or tank trap?
Is it a legal unformed road or jst a well used track?

sorry for all the questions , been a long while since I was up ther last .
basically if it's a legal road , formed or unformed , the only way it can be perminanlty closed is by the council "stopping" the road during a public council meeting . if the mining company have closed it without council consent you are wel within your rights to clear the obstruction and re-open the track.

The track was never a paper road, but was an old drilling track that we started using about 1997. The notice was in tonites paper and was issued by doc at the request of solid energy . There mine is getting closer to the area.Will see if they will allow acess by permit as they do for the blackburn area but i wouldnt hold my breath over this.

Is that this area?

Yep, sure is

sure is
what a shame, been up there a couple of times, it's a wicked afternoon climb......shame
cheers for the info Flag

The land is public conservation land ,but is under a mining licence by solid energy from what I underdtand.I will see if I can get more information in a few days. Acess to a lot of this land has become more difficult since the protesters occupied happy valley wich is pretty close to frederick.Mining is due to start in happy valley cypress area soon.mine security people have been present in the area for a while but have never prevented4wds from using the track.Good photos Tim.

gutted! first photo looks goodly.. bit of an adventure.. dammit.

Is that the road from the iron bridge to Denniston,over the mackley etc or the loop road

furnace wrote:Is that the road from the iron bridge to Denniston,over the mackley etc or the loop road

No it is off that road to the right before you reach Denniston from the Mackley end. My understanding is that it was used originally to get big bulldozers up to the Stockton mine without dismantling them.

Cheers Richard

Bulletproof wrote:

furnace wrote:Is that the road from the iron bridge to Denniston,over the mackley etc or the loop road

No it is off that road to the right before you reach Denniston from the Mackley end. My understanding is that it was used originally to get big bulldozers up to the Stockton mine without dismantling them.

Cheers Richard

I know the track a pity

Bloody nice area up there. I hope the mining in the area is not to large scale that it ruins the beauty
for generations to come. Flag is there any way of finding out what the overall scale of the mining operation will be and how many years are they looking at so far.

Cheers PR

The notice is valid untill nov. 2013 but will probably be renewed then.The way mining proposals are going there will not be much left as it is up ther in another ten years.Bathurst have talked about forming some dedicated 4wd trails as part of their rehab in the area they will mine but i dont have any details yet as their mining aplication has been appealed to the environment court and the hearings have not yet begun.Not sure what solid energys plans are for there areas yet but it looks like 4wds on the plateau will face a number of closed areas in thenear future.
flag.

How does this lockout sit in terms with the CMS that we all recently worked on?
AL

albundy wrote:How does this lockout sit in terms with the CMS that we all recently worked on?
AL

Hi Al
I don't think it would have been included in the CMS review because we never had permission to use it in the first place.

The powers at the time basically just turned a blind eye to us using it, but are now enforcing it because of the mine . I understand there are Guards up there now that won't allow access.

Cheers Richard

interesting video, so what can be done about it?

Dam shame. Bill your right - what can be done about it?

Seems fine to mine it - conservation land is for everyone in NZ it seems except, 4WD'ers, photographers, trampers, and conservationists and the general public in general.

Have a look at this video if you are at all interested in future NZ spoken by a respected NZ'er. It really is worth the 20mins to watch it with a bit of humor thrown in.

Thats a very interesting video, need to show it to the Mrs re the NZ education system, she's still banging on about the uni's being crap. sorry for taking this off topic...

"I don't think it would have been included in the CMS review because we never had permission to use it in the first place."

If I recall right, there were 4x4 trails laid out on the plateau with DOC approval and a DOC pamphlet included them. That DOC SI online pamphlet has recently disappeared. However, I don't recall specifying use of Denniston area in the CMS proposals.

This was the wording of the SI DOC pamphlet.....
BULLER
Denniston Circuit 4WD Drive through Denniston, north of
Westport and turn onto Mt Rochfort Rd.
After 1.5 km look for signs on the right
to the start of the circuit
Traversing the historically and naturally significant Denniston Plateau, this alpine environment is extremely fragile so
please stay on the formed road. The main gate to the circuit is locked, contact the DOC Buller Area Office Ph 03 788
8008, or the Buller 4WD Club Ph 03 789 8608 for access details.

Denniston to Iron Bridge 4WD Maintained
by Transpower
Denniston township, north of Westport
The road follows power lines from Denniston township to Burnett’s Face and traverses Mt William Saddle. Parts of the
road are managed by Solid Energy and private owners but open to the public, however permission is required to
access a short section at the Iron Bridge Ph 03 789 0239. Further information: Buller Area Office Ph 03 788 800

The two tracks on the doc pamphlet are still open.however the mackley road is locked at the new creek (iron bridge ) end and permission is required to access this end.The phone no. is on the pamphlet and the landowner is good to deal with.Another mining company has alicence over a large area at the iron bridge end so watch this space.
Flag.

Hello. I have just joined the site as we are organising a BioBlitz on the Denniston Plateau and will be surveying as much of the areas as possible.
It will include the area from Mount Rochfort to Mount William, the Waimangaroa valley and out towards Mount Frederick and Mount Augustus
Would appreciate any information or tips on access and open / closed tracks please.
Thanks in advance.

Blitz wrote:Hello. I have just joined the site as we are organising a BioBlitz on the Denniston Plateau and will be surveying as much of the areas as possible.
.

what is a bio Blitz??
Tony

Mudde1 wrote:

Blitz wrote:Hello. I have just joined the site as we are organising a BioBlitz on the Denniston Plateau and will be surveying as much of the areas as possible.
.

what is a bio Blitz??
Tony

Its exactly this -> http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/what-we ... volunteers

The organiser is our neighbours so any help with info for her would go down well in brownie points for the wife and I (she makes the most amazing brownies )

Not sure if they have transport in there or not, but I bet you they havnt. Could be a way to drive up there one last time for the next ten years - by driving the miss daisy's of the forest and bird movement

We are heading up there at the beginning of April for one last look to remember it how it used to be, hope they haven't closed it of already before we get there

with your setup DB you could start an occupy Denniston protest

No signs have been put up at the frederick track yet and the security people involved with the mining companys have not been stopping people from using the track so far.There have been several groups up there so far this year and to my knowledge no one has had any problems.
cheers flag.