ALBAA Combined Lower Hunter / Central Coast Environmental Action

24 May 2008

On the 24th of May 2008 the Australian Land Based Anglers Association (ALBAA) held a 'Ledge Care' event as a combined effort between its Central Coast and Lower Hunter teams. This Clean up event was staged with the support of National Parks NSW, Lake Macquarie City Council and Clean Up Australia.

The focus of these actions were the prominent rock ledges within the Munmorah State Conservation Area and the southern headland of Catherine Hill Bay.

A pre- event fishing session at Snapper Point saw all members relaxed and in good spirits before the clean up began at 12:00pm. While the fishing was nothing to write home about with one Salmon (Australian) taken on live bait, a great result was achieved for the environment in these areas.

Once the cleanup kicked into gear at Snapper Rock the team found what has been generally identified as common waste. The stakes changed somewhat when we rounded the southern point, finding the remnants of a car! While theories and much debate ranged as to how this vehicle arrived at its destination, given that there is nowhere to drive a car over the top of the ledge these days. Nor were any recent tracks found during the event. The team picked up as many loose parts as they could find before heading back up to the track head.

ALBAA members also found some time to hand out a few 'Rock Fishing Safety' DVD's to some grateful members of the public, courtesy of ANSA's ongoing Safety program.

As usual some 'ancient meeting sites' were found just off the tracks with bottles and cans being easily dated back twenty years.

The teams then split with the Central Coast (CC) guys negotiating their way south to Wybung Head. What was encountered here was somewhat different to the general refuse found on most events. It seems that the local custom at this end of the park is to throw your garbage off the top of what is a substantial headland and watch or count as it flutters or crashes its way to the bottom of the cliff.

After some interesting access issues the team made it down to ground zero and set about wiping the rock ledge clean of human footprint.

On meeting the Lower Hunter (LH) crew at the designated rendezvous point a similar story was told of Catherine Hill Bay (CHB). While the headland lacks the shear faces of its southern cousin the waste found on and around the ledge was of a similar nature.

At CHB, it seems, the custom involves leaving your waste on the ledge before heading back to the top of the headland to drink ones self silly. Once sufficiently lubricated, 'bottle throwing competitions' begin with maximum spread of broken glass seeming to be the desirable outcome. The Lower Hunter team took on a big ask cleaning out all the caves on the headland and attempting to make an impact on the broken glass littering the headland. Due to time and physical constraints they were really only able to remove the larger pieces that would be more likely to result in serious injury if encountered accidentally.

Meeting back at the Catho Pub, for light refreshments it was decided that both teams would return to CHB at the earliest available opportunity in an attempt to bring the area up to a maintainable level.

While the LH Team were busy at Catho it came to light that the CC boys had run into Glen Gifford from National Parks NSW, after taking care of business at Wybung Head. When the car matter was raised the boys were informed that there had been an attempted airlift (by chopper) the previous week. Unfortunately the wreck wouldn't budge but further plans are in the making for its proper disposal.

The rubbish collected was then placed in the skip bin kindly provided by Lake Macquarie City Council for proper disposal.

ALBAA would like to extend its gratitude to Karen Mason, Kym Bilham, Alan Godden (Lake Macquarie City Council) and Glen Gifford and his team at National Parks NSW; Munmorah State Conservation Area for their support and assistance.

ALBAA would also like to thank Clean Up Australia for their continued assistance and support.

Although some of the above debriefing may be a slightly bitter pill to swallow, the important thing is that a great outcome for these environs was achieved. With the continued support of those peoples and organizations mentioned above ALBAA is confident of minimizing the human footprint in these areas for the quiet enjoyment of all area users.