Sustainable Timbers Tasmania denies access to its land for takayna Trail marathon

Sustainable Timbers Tasmania has been labelled “vengeful” after it denied access to its land for a fundraising marathon in a move described as “bloody-minded revenge”.

• Talking Point: Forest unrest will continue until logging stops
• Protesters arrested after locking themselves to machinery

A DRAWCARD Tasmanian running event has been denied from going ahead this year at its proposed site by the state’s forestry body.

North-West marathon takayna Trail – which was set to hold its third annual event next month – has had its 2021 application bluntly refused by Sustainable Timbers Tasmania after organisers sought access for 150 runners to navigate a track near Waratah.

Organised by the Bob Brown Foundation, the 65km running event is said to inject $150,000 each year into the state’s economy while drawing entries from across the country.

The race seeks to raise money to support the Bob Brown Foundation campaign to have takayna / Tarkine protected as a World Heritage listed National Park.

In a letter to the Bob Brown Foundation, seen by the Mercury, Sustainable Timbers Tasmania said “we do not provide land manager’s consent for this event to occur on Permanent Timber Production Zone land”.

A participant competes during a past takayna Trail marathon event.

Denying the event access to public land is an outrage, Bob Brown Foundation event manager Jo Edwards said.

“It puts this event at risk of being cancelled,” she said.

“This is a low impact, environmentally friendly event, which brings much needed income into the North West. No reason has been given for the ban.

“STT has an obligation under legislation to allow access to permanent timber production zone land for such purposes as are not incompatible with the management of permanent timber production zone land.”

Ms Edwards suggested the event refusal was politically motivated.

“Forestry’s vengeful political stance in banning the event from public land should worry all Tasmanians,” she said.

“The event denial appears to be bloody minded revenge for the Foundation’s call for an end to native forest logging.”

Greens Leader Cassy O’Connor questioned if the government body was refusing the event “because the Bob Brown Foundation was organising it”,

“Premier [Peter] Gutwein and his Resources Minister Guy Barnett need to step in so the ultra marathon can go ahead for the benefit of the regional economy,” she said.

An STT spokesman said their decision was made because the Bob Brown Foundation was “currently conducting and has a history of conducting unsafe and unauthorised activity on Permanent Timber Production Zone land”.

“The publicly advertised primary purpose for this event is to raise money to support activities hindering the management of Permanent Timber Production Zone land and therefore is not supported by Sustainable Timber Tasmania.”