West Australian station managers in East Kimberley are urging motorists to respect properties and clean-up after themselves following ongoing problems with trespassing on pastoral leases.
Diggers Rest station, located near Wyndham, announced it had locked a gate along the popular Karunjie Track off the Gibb River Road after it was continually left open during a mustering operation.
"We are currently looking at alternatives such as grids as nothing else seems to work," the statement read.
"We signposted advising about the gate being locked however the signs disappeared.
"This is the first time we've had to do this and hopefully the last."
Safety concerns
Legune Station allows access through the station to the western side of the Keep River, which is popular for fishing.
But station manager Anthony Cox says people littering and damaging property remains a concern.
He said the roads deteriorated after heavy traffic on long weekends and there were cases of people pulling down fences to access other areas.
"We've obviously got our own workers out there doing jobs; trucks moving cattle around and loaded, and some of the roads have got blind corners and those sorts of things," Mr Cox said.
"That's the biggest risk to the community and to our own staff."
Urged to phone ahead
Mr Cox said many people were respectful and phoned ahead to notify their movements, but others were not as considerate.
The station is currently restricting access until June 26 due to a mustering operation, but he hopes the community will respect the property when it reopens.
"Everyone loves to fish … however the amount of rubbish and debris that's left behind is not a good look — our staff are having to clean that up," Mr Cox said.
"It's some great fishing out here, and hunting for a lot of the Traditional Owners, but it's got to be managed."
Border restrictions
Access to Legune Station is further complicated by coronavirus travel restrictions.
The station is located in the Northern Territory but the only road access is via Kununurra in WA.
Although the road crosses the state border it does not have a quarantine checkpoint.
Exact Contracting is working on major upgrades to the NT side of the road to support the proposed aquaculture development, Project Sea Dragon.
Quality manager Jeff Rotman said his staff were required to follow strict protocols when they travelled from interstate, and workers were then not allowed back into Kununurra due to the hard border closure.
The company had upgraded an airstrip on the Carlton Hill station lease so charter flights from Darwin could land directly into the NT, rather than coming via WA.
Mr Rotman said the number of motorists on the road could pose a health risk to staff that were based on site.
"It didn't actually cause any problems but we're quite concerned about people coming in from other areas and making contact with our staff," he said.
Mr Rotman said he had spoken to Kununurra and Timber Creek police but the unmanned border crossing meant it was hard to prevent access.
The road also leads to two Aboriginal communities, Marralum and Kneebone, that could be vulnerable to COVID-19.
