National Parks and Wildlife Service says sandstone ledge could ‘collapse at any time’

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

An Australian national park is building a new fence to stop visitors climbing on to an Instagram-famous yet dangerous rock – but critics say it will not keep anyone away.

Wedding Cake Rock – a white, cake-shaped cliff in New South Wales’ Royal National Park – has become a popular destination for selfies and photos, with thousands of visitors a year.

However, the sandstone ledge is “very fragile” and a 2015 geotechnical survey found it could “collapse at any time”, according to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).

In 2014 a French student was killed nearby when a cliff collapsed, and in 2015 two men had to be rescued after falling from Wedding Cake Rock and landing on a narrow ledge below it.

Park rangers have since built warning signs and a 1.6m fence around the rock but enough people have ignored it that they have announced plans to upgrade their defences by 2019.

While the new fence will not be higher, it will be “more difficult to climb, using more robust materials”, a spokeswoman said.

Roughly 1,500 people visit the rock on a busy weekend, according to the NPWS, and dozens of Instagram posts using the hastag #weddingcakerock are made every week.

Those who have taken photos on the rock say it is likely the new fence will also be ignored.

Monika Mydlowska took a photo on Wedding Cake Rock and posted it to Instagram on Monday with the caption “Stable people dancing on an unstable rock”.

She told Guardian Australia the fence would have little to no effect.

“I don’t think building a fence is a good idea,” she said. “It will not stop people from climbing on to it.

“When I first went there three years ago, there was no fence, then a temporary one and now this one. Why is it suddenly so dangerous to be on it? I followed my boyfriend, there were no people around and we thought it would be funny.

“They should just let people decide for themselves if they want to take the risk. Signs should be enough. I’m sure there are more dangerous places to stand on that no one cares about. Australia loves policies and loves to kill fun.”

A NPWS spokeswoman said people should think about the impact an accident would have on “family, friends and emergency services people who put their lives at risk”.

“We’ve made it very clear with a 1.6m fence and warning signs that the site is unsafe … It has to come back to people taking greater care for the safety of themselves and their friends.”

She added that the fence was being kept at the same 1.6m height to preserve the natural beauty of the site.

“Nobody wants a national park filled with obtrusive fences and signs but the irresponsible behaviour of those putting many at risk have left NPWS with little choice,” she said. “Unfortunately, there is a small minority of people who are choosing to disobey the warning signs and blatantly scale the 1.6m-high fence, usually for one purpose only, to take a photograph on Wedding Cake Rock.”