Four-wheel-driving rite of passage closed for two years for the construction of new access road

A decades-old rite of passage for Karratha’s four-wheel-drive community has been closed for two years as part of a multimillion-dollar plan to create a tourism hub in the Murujuga National Park. The jump-up, a notorious 20m tall rocky hill leading to some of the region’s most isolated beaches, will be demolished to create an access road to Conzinc Bay as part of the multimillion Murujuga Tourism Program. Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation announced on November 3 that the Murujuga National Park north of Withnell Bay, accessed through the jump-up, would be closed to the public through to the end of 2024 for the construction of the $27.3 million access road and day-use facilities. The two-year closure will allow the MAC and the DBCA to complete the environmental, heritage, and geotechnical investigations required to finalise the road’s detailed design and allow time for the project’s construction phase, which the City of Karratha will manage. Once completed, the new road will provide a main entry point to the Murujuga National Park and facilitate two-wheel-drive access to Conzinc Bay. The access road and day-use facilities are part of the larger Murujuga Tourism Project which would see Conzinc Bay transformed into a tourism destination complete with a campground, cafe, gallery, gift shop, floating jetty and glamping area. It will also feature a Living Knowledge Centre to showcase the area’s cultural richness and natural diversity, home to an estimated one million rock engravings. The plan has been a long-held ambition of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, with the project beginning in 2018 when MAC began a flora and fauna survey of the land. It was endorsed by the State Government, which pitched in $10m in funding for the road, in 2020. MAC chief executive Peter Jeffries said there would be numerous benefits from the temporary closure, which would ultimately lead to the better protection of the natural environment and cultural assets of Murujuga. “The closure enables us to undertake some urgent remediation works to the jump-up to protect vulnerable rock art, to complete the investigations required to further inform the design of the road, and then start construction,” he said. “In addition, it provides an opportunity for the rangers to start rehabilitating the coastal dunes and tracks, and to undertake important turtle and shorebird nest monitoring without the risk of the data being compromised by 4WD activity,” he said. Mr Jeffries said that by investing in well-designed infrastructure, MAC would be able to safely share Aboriginal culture with the broader community and continue to build a shared pride in the ancient history of Australia. DBCA regional leader for parks and visitor services Matthew Verdouw said the access road would allow safer access and protect and promote rock art through well-designed infrastructure and interpretive signage. If funding is secured, construction of accommodation and the Living Knowledge Centre is planned to commence in early-2025 with completion in late-2026.