Gillen climb to close after seven years of talks

View from the top of the climb looking north.

Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife will close the popular climb of Mt Gillen after consulting with traditional custodians of the site, with climbers reportedly facing fines of up to $31,000.

From today, people wishing to make the climb, which runs from Flynn’s Grave, will be required to get a permit from the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, but from 20th March 2021, the path will be fenced off.

Parks and Wildlife’s Chris Day told ABC Radio today the walk had never been “official”, but had developed from a track created by hikers over decades.

Mr Day said Parks and Wildlife had been contacted in 2013  by members got the public concerned about the deterioration of the track and had been looking at how it could rectify the damage and make the walk safer.

But in seven years of discussion, the Aboriginal custodians decided that, based on the cultural values of the site, they were not happy to have the remedial work done. Parks and Wildlife had then decided to close the walk.

He said it had been clear from early in the discussion custodians were not happy with people climbing to the summit “because of its cultural values.”

“In its current condition, it does often present issues around safety, and for first responders it’s an absolute nightmare getting people off that slope,” Mr Day said.

He said there were “plenty of other places around the Alice Springs landscape that we are so lucky to be able to access and enjoy.”

Alice Springs custodian Doris Stuart told presenter Stewart Brash she was happy with the closure of the climb but “very hurt it had taken such a long time.”

She said some family members had died during their struggle to close the walk .

Ms Stuart said the site was part of the thylacine or dog dreaming.

Regarding the track up to the summit, Ms Stuart said she could bear to look at the scar on the hillside created by the track.

“It’s like I’ve been scarred,” she said. “My ribcage had the knife run across it. That’s what it means to be connected to this place.”

ABC Radio reported people faced fines of up to $31,000 for making the climb.