by Jacqui Fitzgerald bought her house in the seaside village of Woorim two years ago, looking for a peaceful lifestyle.
She soon found out that it would be anything but. Fitzgerald is at the forefront of Bribie Island’s rapid tourism growth. Her home border is the entrance to the national park and four wheeler beach on the south side of the island just north of Brisbane.
Cameras outside her home have captured some of the dangerous behavior over the years.
In one video, two cars appear to drag race down the road, leaving a black plume of smoke in their wake. The noise of squealing tires echoes through the streets.
Another video shows a man deliberately accelerating on a sandy section of road to spin his tires and make them screech.
Other footage shows cars driving on the wrong side of the road and endangering pedestrians and cyclists. A neighbor tells Guardian Australia he drove a four-wheel plow into his steel fence. Others have also set up cameras on the street to monitor the area.
There are thousands of visitors to the island when it is now asleep every year. Its popularity is mainly due to its natural beauty and easy access, with a bridge connecting the island to the mainland. It also has the closest four wheel drive and surfing beach to north Brisbane.
But Fitzgerald says residents are becoming frustrated by the lack of action to control the “thousands” of four-wheel drives “hammering” the island during peak periods.
“I do reports on dangerous driving, and Queensland has the strongest driving laws in the country, but nothing happens here,” Fitzgerald said.
“There are a lot of elderly people here … and they are bringing so many vehicles through a quiet residential village.”
The Queensland government this month released long-awaited, commissioned studies into sustainable tourism in Bribie Island, K’gari (Fraser Island) and Cullodha Recreation Area.
Bribie’s report recommends limiting vehicles entering the beach during peak periods, minimizing unnecessary night traffic and increasing penalties for “inappropriate behaviour”.
It also suggests allowing supervisors to hand out the same fines as police and improving “direction to leave” provisions so that offenders cannot return for seven days or longer after being directed to leave.
The government is weighing these options, with Environment Minister Leanne Linard saying the Miles government will continue to “listen to the public and key stakeholders to protect the Bribie Island national park and recreation area.”
Tarin Field has lived on the island since the 80s and has fond memories of “bumming lifts” to the national park as a “gromit” (young surveyor).
“You rarely see four wheel drives up there. Now I have a beer in the pub and I see all these four-wheel drives coming back,” he said.
Field wants the beach to be protected but says banning four-wheel drives is not the solution.
“A lot of people are still going up at high tide and that’s frustrating for us locals,” he said. “Most people do the right thing, there are just a few bad eggs among them.”
Ana McCrespo says something needs to change. The Spanish resident four-wheels on Bribie at least twice a month and is concerned about people damaging the national park and becoming a nuisance.
McCrespo is often picking up after visitors who have left litter on the beach. She says more control and restrictions on four-wheel drive are needed to protect the island.
“There have been a lot of problems recently with people damaging the dunes, bringing dogs onto the beach … driving like crazy … making doughnuts,” she said.
“At least one car is moved on the entrance road. Sometimes it creates a chain effect and one car is moved after another.
“[Restrictions are] it’s not ideal but we don’t want to damage the park or close it to the public.”
Jason Brown has been running G’day Adventure Tours for the past eight years educating people about the island’s wildlife and history.
He is also the administrator of the Facebook group I moved to Bribie Island and has heard of all kinds of vehicles that have tried to cross the sandy national park, including two wheel drives.
Brown said on sunny days, the beach can become a “garden” with more than 1,000 vehicles at any one time.
Brown said as well as a reduction in cars during peak periods, a video questionnaire could be introduced to test people about four-wheel drive before they are granted a vehicle licence.
“During Covid they reduced the numbers to 300 a day, I don’t see why that couldn’t be permanent at peak times,” he said.
Environmental groups are also concerned about the island’s wildlife. Locals often tell the poignant story of “Eric”, the last liver on Bribie, who was killed by a dog that was brought into the national park illegally. Others lament the disappearance of the local koala population following the clearing of native forests.
Recently, the number of turtle deaths in the Moreton Bay marine park increased by 87% in one year and there are concerns that unregulated boating, four-wheel drive and discarded crab pots could lead to further losses.
At the northern end of the beach, some of the last turtle hatchlings of the season are making the giant journey into the ocean. They have barely opened their eyes before the sea releases them and drags them down the coast.
A few meters away, day trippers in a Toyota Land Cruiser race down the beach. Their tire tracks make it even more difficult for the turtles to crawl to the sea.
A local environmental group, the Bribie Island Environmental Conservation Society, of nearly 400 members has developed a “tread lightly” tool to advise travelers of the best times to drive along the beach for turtles.
BIEPA is calling for a lottery system for vehicle access permits for the 20 peak days, no driving at night during turtle season and hard sand driving only – meaning the beach is closed to traffic for two hours on both sides of the tide, with boom gates at entrances.
BIEPA president, Richard Ogden, believes that it is “essential” to implement these recommendations to protect the island’s environment.
“Bribie Island and Pumicestone Passage are very valuable environmental assets to Queensland and Australia,” he said.
“Recreation needs to be managed to minimize the impact on our special but endangered wildlife, including shorebirds, turtles, dolphins and dugongs.”
