I think the idea of a Great Coastal Walk - from Barrenjoey Headland to Royal National Park (and beyond?) - is a wonderful concept. BUT, to attempt to rate it alongside Australia's other iconic walks - such as the Overland Track and the Great Ocean Walk or Larapinta Trail - is not appropriate. The Overland Track and Larapinta Trail are essentially wilderness experiences (Great Ocean Walk perhaps a little less so) but a walk from Barrenjoey to Bundeena would largely traverse an urban setting. This is not to say it would not be a worthwhile and enjoyable experience. Just different from those other iconic walks! Definitely well worth pushing ahead with this project and it has the prospect of becoming a popular attraction for locals and visitors to Sydney alike.

I have walked on from Barrenjoey Headland to Circular Quay using the Sydney Coastal Council walking maps. It took 7 days of leisurely walking over a 10 day period. Stopping each night to catch the bus home and then returning the next day to where we left off. It was spectacular, even the areas where we traversed the urban streets. This was as interesting and worthwhile as the beaches and bushland tracks around the headlands. The ocean beaches were stunning as those in the harbour. Cant wait to pick up from Cirular Quay and finish the walk to the Royal National Park during my next lot of leave.

I'll largely echo Kevin's sentiments, but I want to raise a specific point.

There was what, three to four times more calls to open the park for climbing than posts about any other issue? I didn't see anyone calling for the development of additional scenic walks.

Yet here we are, clearly a lot of man-hours are being devoted to this scenic walk project. So I have to ask, what is the driving force behind it and what makes that driving force more important than the overwhelming body of public feedback to the consultation process up to this point?

On these grounds, whilst I believe the Coastal Walk is an excellent concept, I would feel obliged to oppose it at this time until real, tangible, deliverable progress is made on lifting the ban on climbing within the park in line with the overwhelming weight of feedback which has been received by this process to this point.

I will take this issue back to the Queensland representative body for climbing (the ACAQ) and propose it be adopted as our formal policy position and I'd encourage the Sydney Rockclimbing Club to consider the same course of action.

Regards,

Adam Gibson

Good idea. Money spent money on uniform signs and a few missing links to connect existing tracks or avoid suburban streets is money well spent.

Not sure of all the details though.

. Why make people cross Spit Road? The short walk past the boat houses is more interesting than walking in the formal park across the road.

. Why interfere with the relatively little undisturbed bush at Middle Head so that people can make a circuit that includes Cobblers and Obelisk beaches as well as the fortifications and new work along the route to Chowder Bay. Just make Chowder Bay Rd a "shared zone" with a very low speed limit for vehicles. (When the road is closed for the annual "gate-to-gate" fun run/walk that route is just fine for pedestrians). People can make short side trips to the forts and beaches along the existing tracks if they have time.

. The proposed standard of track construction seems to be very high, perhaps scarce resources could be better used elsewhere.

. A link from Rose Bay waterfront to the south end of the Hermitage track would be far more pleasant than walking up New South Head Rd. (but maybe I'm dreaming)

. I may have missed it in my quick run through of the proposal, but I would like to see references to existing shops and hotels and other refreshment stops along the way. No new businesses or concessions in the Park, but ordinary businesses in neighboring streets should be integrated into the plan. Out-of-town visitors who forget their sandwiches need to eat.

The recent change to transport ticketing make walking this route between public transport stops less irritating. Now all we need is a day equivalent of the my-multi weekly, and a late ferry from Watsons Bay and a service from there to Chowder Bay or Balmoral and it would be perfect (I'm dreaming again!). Seriously, this is the kind of service people expect overseas.

I found the "strategy" a hard read and suggest that it is maybe 10 times as long as it needs to be. Any document which begins (see 2.2) by saying "The strategy aims to provide the basis ..." is open to ridicule.

But I am not interested in bagging how the draft is written. What I want to say is that I did not find any words on the issues of multiple use of the proposed track. Down in the Shire we have walkways which are closed to cyclists, and which prohibition is routinely ignored. Dog walkers are another potential group of users, as are joggers.

Any planning for a public asset such as a walking track has to include the reality of multiple user groups who will expect to be able to use the facility.

As a closing comment - it is not going to be the sort of "icon" that is proposed unless it is kept clean, with daily rubbish removal.

Wait a minute! Aren't National Parks meant to be for conservation? Take North Head for example, it is alreday dissected with roads and walking tracks, do we need more? Cutting a cliff track through untouched native bushland seems absurd when there are a myriad of existing tracks not utlised becasue of past/present boundary issues with National Parks, Defence and the Harbour Trust. Do we really want to carve up more of the endangered eastern suburbs banksia scrub? The Harbour Trust have destroyed enough building car parks! Do we want to open up virgin bush to walkers bringing in weed seed and creating a pathway for feral predators like foxes to munch on our endagered bandicoot population? Can't we have atleast one section of North Head left for conservation of our plants and animals?

How about National Parks explores properly the tracks that already exist in bushalnd on the eastern side of North Head - the old cobblestone road from Bluefish to North Fort for example.

I love walking, but at the cost of our endangered species? I don't think so!