Planning should start with consideration of the experience to be provided for visitors and the options available to achieve this. Serious consideration must be given to options beyond simply upgrading infrastructure to cope with ever increasing visitor numbers.
With the referral of this development proposal to the Federal Minister for consideration under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, the full scale of this proposed development has been revealed.
The draft Frenchmans Cap Recreation Zone Plan is belated and could facilitate commercial development of the area.
The design of the proposed new visitor centre must be revised to ensure it will not impact on users of the TWWHA.
The stated reason for the proposed changes to the 2011 Management Plan is to facilitate an Expression of Interest proposal for a tourism venture centred on Tasman Island.
The proposed replacement hut at Lake Tahune is merely one component of a creeping upgrade of facilities at Frenchmans Cap being undertaken to date without any meaningful consultation with stakeholders.
Several aspects of the recent bushfires suggest that protection of rare and threatened fire-sensitive species was not effectively prioritised in the operational management of the 2016 firefighting efforts.
The emergency response to wildfires needs to better prioritise the protection of Tasmania’s natural values.
The government’s determination to facilitate private development within a national park with the absolute minimum of public involvement demonstrates its contempt for both the values of the national park and the concept of management planning.
There are major concerns with the 2014 Draft Management Plan, all aimed at facilitating development over conservation, and downgrading he primacy of wilderness.
