IT was a resounding “No more parks” response with a mass gathering in the main street of Woods Point on Sunday with more than 1000 Victorians rallying against any attempts by the government to turn state forests into national parks.

The human sign formed outside the Commercial Hotel sent a clear message to Spring Street about trying to reduce access for bush users.

The “No more parks” event was organised by Community Advocacy Eastern Region in conjunction with Victorians Against the Great Forest National Park.

An exhausted but elated spokesperson for Victorians Against the Great Forest National Park, Carly Murphy said it was a great success.

“We had around 1000 people turn up, some driving four to six hours to get there,” Ms Murphy said.

“The convoy up lead by 4WD TV's Simon Christie had approximately 80 cars in it and was over a kilometre long, causing Google maps to show massive congestion on Woods Point Road,” she said.

Organisers said people travelled from Geelong, Tarneit, Lakes Entrance, Shepparton, Echuca, Mornington Peninsula, Holbrook, NSW and all the places in between.

Among the attendees were state members of parliament Melina Bath representing Eastern Victoria and Rikki Lee Tyrell for the Northern Victoria Region.

The state member for Eildon Cindy McLeish raised her concerns in parliament last week about future plans for Victorian’s state forests.

“Although the premier says bush users will be able to have access to our forests, she is silent on whether or not some of the forests will be turned over to national parks,” said Ms McLeish.

“The premier needs to tell bush users that none of our existing public forests will be locked up as national parks.

“Until she does, bush users remain uneasy that they will lose access to their local forests and favourite hobbies."

The member for Eildon believed the current city-centric government was out of touch with regional Victorians.

“They underestimate the popularity of horse riding, hunting, four-wheel driving, dirt biking, fishing, prospecting or simply walking the dog in the bush,” said Ms McLeish.

Other concerns raised included the need for collaboration with bushfire and forestry experts, and bush user groups, and the lack of maintenance of park facilities.

An online petition supporting this cause has been set up at https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/get-involved/petitions/stop-the-creation-of-any-new-national-parks.

Petition closes February 8, 2025.

“We could not be happier with the response and the support from everyone," said Ms Murphy, reflecting on the Woods Point turnout.

"It was an incredible day and everyone was respectful and happy.”

The next event will be a rally on Saturday September 21 in Kinglake.