Public areas proposed for WA Prospectors?

While prospectors in the East are trying to win back ground to enable them to follow their gold prospecting hobby there are proposals to advocate public ground only in WA.
I read with disbelief that this proposal was being bandied around for past months, the idea is visiting prospectors (watch out out for those that stray over the border from the East) will be virtually locked up in the town caravan parks (bring prosperity to out back towns???) and be only allowed to detect on designated areas nearby.
Before you know it someone in will grab and run with this.
"Yes! Let's designate prospecting areas and we'll lock up the surrounding Pastoral & Mining Leases and any remaining ground and convert to National Parks!"

The GREEN or is it GREED OUTBACK no longer the RED!
Your call Tony!

Sounds like Qld. Clermont has 9 designated fossicking areas but you cannot camp on any of them. You must only camp in the caravan park. Plus you have to pay a fee to the local council for the privilege of prospecting ground that has been hammered to death over the past 38 years by every detector known to man.

I would hate to think that the same sort of thing may happen in WA but the Qeenslanders seem to accept their fate with too much fuss.

Cheers, Jim

There used to be Designated Prospecting Areas in NSW. I have not seen any of these signposted areas for a while now....Maybe the Greens pulled the signs down.
Majors Creek NSW had a sign posted Designated Prospecting Area years ago but the sign disappeared not long after it was erected.
I guess the main thing about these types of areas is that no permission is required to get into them.

granite2 wrote:Sounds like Qld. Clermont has 9 designated fossicking areas but you cannot camp on any of them. You must only camp in the caravan park. Plus you have to pay a fee to the local council for the privilege of prospecting ground that has been hammered to death over the past 38 years by every detector known to man.

I would hate to think that the same sort of thing may happen in WA but the Qeenslanders seem to accept their fate with too much fuss.

Cheers, Jim

Jim, you now longer have to pay a fee to council, just have a current Qld Fossicking Licence. Two new GPA's have been opened up but Bottom Apsley is closed this year. https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/activities/areas-facilities/fossicking/central-gold

Cheers

It comes as no surprise to me that they would propose such a thing, but enforcing it might be another thing as a lot of people sick of trying to do the right thing will probably just do it illegally anyway, towns like Mt Magnet are already having their ranger go around and chase people out that are free camping on the outskirts of town, with them being told to either go to the town caravan park or move on, if towns are desperate to get the tourist dollar then they need to lift their games and give better service to visitors, in the past some towns have treated visitors like pests rather than a source of income for the local economy.

Also public areas are well and good but honestly do you think the areas are going to be worth detecting after a season or two, gold is not like a mushroom and does not grow back so it will quickly end up like all the well known flogged areas, and you can bet it wont be a prime area in the first place so the chances of doing ok will be very limited, but the bigger picture is they want to stop us doing it anyway so as they make harder and harder eventually a lot of people who now enjoy the freedom and a healthy holiday will just give it away.

Its a shame but its greed motivated, money, money, money, it might benefit them for a short while but eventually these towns are going to die anyway because you can also guarantee that as you have no choice but to stay in a park prices will soar, and all other services will do the same so these towns will be avoided much like we still to this day avoid the Paynes Find roadhouse as one previous owner was fleecing people on his prices for fuel and such, these towns will just end up a drive by town in favour of other places.

au-fever