Bush bashers a menace: THEY come across the Mountains in droves to tear up our countryside. But these off roaders who swarm over what is collectively known as the Newnes State Forest year round are rapidly outwearing their welcome.
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Regular visitors taking their chances on the Glowworm Tunnel Road run the gauntlet of wildly driver 4WDs and unregistered quad bikes and trail bikes. "It's often like a scene from a Mad Max movie," we were told.
These hoons, mostly believed to be city based (Newnes Plateau is the closest such area to the Sydney Basin), are badly degrading what's left of the countryside.
They long ago wrecked what was left of the Newnes Prison Farm - another shameful episode. Popular Bungleboori camping area also suffers from irresponsible visitors, often resembling a garbage tip.
Witnesses said there was no let up in the hooning even when emergency services were in the vicinity dealing with a ute rollover. The ute illegally had several people riding in the back.
Police in the past have sent a trail bike squad into the area to crack down on illegal activity but resources dictate that these operations are at best spasmodic.
Lithgow ambulance statistics paint a sobering picture of the consequences of this not so clean fun. But the figures say nothing about the environmental damage.