Hi everyone,

It’s been around 11 weeks since Dairy Farm was shut down to rock climbers and we understand that everyone is keen to get back to climbing outdoors, especially in these extraordinary times when travel to overseas climbing destinations are out of the question.

We appreciate the patience and the restraint that the community has shown thus far. We reached once again to NParks last week for a status update, and they met with us over a Zoom call on 8 May 2021. Present during the meeting for NParks were the Commissioner of Parks & Recreation, Group Director National Biodiversity Centre and their team. QX, Kang and Chang were present from RCC.

During the meeting, we communicated to NParks the frustration that is fast becoming apparent among the community with the perceived lack of movement and communication on resolving the issue of access to Dairy Farm.

NParks then requested for us to convey to all that they are working on the DF issue in earnest to come up with a sustainable solution that the various stakeholders can agree on but will need more time. They are currently unable to provide a timeline on how long this process will take, but seek the community’s continual understanding and restraint while they continue to review the various ideas and proposals for reopening. It was also hinted that things are in a delicate balance now, and any escalation of issues may result in a situation where climbing at DF is permanently banned.

We assure you that RCC will continue to check in with NParks about the progress being made and provide updates to the community when and where we can. We will also continue to explore other ways to protect long term, sustainable access to DF.

If you wish to help, what you can do in the meantime is to speak to climbers who may have gone back to DF inspite of the above, and explain to them how their actions may affect the longer-term reopening plan. Since we are striving for self-governance, we need to do our best to demonstrate to the relevant authorities that we can be responsible and respectful climbers and abide by the temporary closure.

If you have any questions or concerns, please write in to us at rockclimberscollective@gmail.com or approach us in person. We will be happy to chat and see what we can do to help.

Stay safe everyone and we will be in touch again soon!

Rock Climbers Collective