More delays on future of Wollumbin Mount Warning

Hikers fear Wollumbin/Mount Warning is the “next Uluru” and may never reopen, after its “temporary” closure was extended for the fourth time.

There are fears hikers will never again be able to climb the iconic Wollumbin/Mount Warning after its “temporary” closure was extended yet again.

The famed summit trail was blocked off at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, but the closure has since been extended four times, sparking theories that the track would be closed for good as “the next Uluru”.

The spectacular hike to the summit – the first place in Australia to welcome the sun’s rays each day, has been a bone of contention for several years, with some indigenous figures wanting the trail shut as a sign of respect in the same way people are no longer allowed to climb to the top of Uluru.

The popular Wollumbin Mount Warning summit trail has been closed for more than two years while officials decide its fate.

A decision on Wollumbin’s future was due to be released by March 31, but a spokesperson for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service said that had now been extended until June 30 “due to the impacts of Covid and widespread flooding on the consultation process”.

NSW NPWS has previously said the initial closure was due to Covid health restrictions, while extensions to the closure have been because of “safety risks” over the condition of the final approach to the summit, which includes a system of chain-linked handrails.

However, Right to Climb campaigner Marc Hendrickx has spent almost two years lobbying for the trail to be reopened and said the mountain was “a national treasure”, calling the continued closures “an absolute disgrace”.

“NPWS have now had over two years to consult with the community and stakeholders but they have done nothing and are using excuses of Covid and now weather to further delay a decision,” he said.

“In the meantime there has been no substantive maintenance in the park for nearly 10 years.

“The mountain is a national treasure and deserves to be treated accordingly.

“NPWS management has been an absolute disgrace and they should be ashamed of themselves at the mess they have left.”

Named Mount Warning by Captain Cook during his journey to Australia in 1770, Wollumbin became a national park in 1929 and has been one of the country’s most popular hiking trails for decades.

It was so highly coveted as a place to see in the New Year that a special ballot was held for the start of the millennium with entry restricted to 200 lucky climbers.

In 2007, Nganduwal Elder, the late Marlene Boyd, was quoted supporting hiking of the mountain.

“I do not oppose the public climbing of Mt Warning – how can the public experience the spiritual significance of this land if they do not climb the summit and witness creation?” she said.

The Nganduwal have been recognised as key stakeholders in the Tweed caldera.

However, in recent years, sentiment has shifted, with some opposition from members of the local Bundjalung Nation, who view the mountain as a sacred place.