We plan on doing an over nighter there in the next couple of weeks on our way over to the snowy.

May do.

I think there is a number on a sign near the entry - no sign near the toilets though regarding registration.

I notice when reading the article that the council won't even allow you to park up on a block of land that you might own in the shire without a permit. It also mentions private land where a building permit is unobtainable.

This is happening in a lot of areas of Victoria. Unsuspecting people are buying up "cheap" blocks of land and finding out after the fact (because the owner is not obliged to tell the real estate agent) that they'll never be able to build there because the property is deemed to be too close to a stream or in a catchment area and they fear poorly maintained septic tanks will leach into said streams.

Areas around Strathbogie are typical of this situation and it even affects people who bought land there years ago with the intention of retiring there only to find that when they do finally retire, they're not allowed to build their dream home because of recently introduced by-laws and then have to try and sell the block at a greatly reduced price which quite often puts them behind the 8 ball for purchasing another suitable property.

Whilst I maintain the belief that we should be protecting our natural environment, surely something could be done to take back these blocks by the State Government and return it to Crown land whilst paying a decent compensation to the owners.

As for camping on your own land, the shire states that people who do so wouldn't be covered by life insurance if they die on the property in a fire or whatever. I have to ask what happened to the individual's right to make their own decisions in this world? We're being mollycoddled from cradle to grave, but I suspect it's not because local, State or Federal Government gives a rats proverbial about us. The bottom line is always to do with money and not in the ordinary person's interests either!

I might add that none of the above affects me personally. I just think it's wrong that the freedoms I knew as a child growing up are being continuously eroded by successive Government interference!