Yes Fred, as Peter Ward found out recently (
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=84651) only the through road is open in the Royal after dark. I imagine it is for the same reason they closed Budderoo Plateau - day and night - a few years ago. In that case they put up a sign apologising to all the people who used the area for recreation. However the incidences of vandalism, arson, dumping of rubbish, dumping and burning of cars etc meant that the council could not afford the cleanup costs nor could it take the risk that a fire started in the area may kill someone. So, as is generally the case, decent people are disadvantaged by the actions of relatively few dropkicks.
I would have suggested to Peter that he might like to photograph the comet from the car park at the start of the Forest Walk (directly above Scarborough pub). My wife and I have often done the Forest Walk and then had a bit of a picnic while enjoying the views of the coast. It's been closed due to rubbish dumping and cars going over the cliff. So people have knocked down the fence and driven in over the heath! I have a 4WD and could easily do likewise, but I won't.
As far as getting permission to be behind locked gates, I hope I'm wrong but I imagine that trying to go through official channels will be a dead end. A few years ago at a grazing occultation someone had a run-in with the bloke who opens the gates in the morning (the position of a scope meant he had to walk an extra 10 foot to get to the gate) and I would suggest that appealing for understanding from that quarter would be less than fruitful. Going higher up the food chain would probably just result in a time lapse of paper shuffling. As my grandmother used to say 'What's the world coming to?'.