Submission
The public has been asked to comment on the design of one relatively minor component of the Cradle Mountain Master Plan without there having been any opportunity to express an opinion on the merits or otherwise of the overarching plan. Furthermore, no clear rationale has been presented for the proposed design.
The important issue is not the architecture of the proposed viewing shelter; it is the rationale for transforming the experience of visiting Dove Lake into a view from indoors, through a window (an explicitly stated objective of the design is to ensure that visitors get their first sight of Dove Lake from within the viewing shelter). This is not what national parks are all about!
There has been no consideration of alternatives which could greatly improve the visitor experience without fundamentally changing it into something more isolated from the natural environment.
Dove Lake carpark from Marions Lookout, Cradle Mountain. Photo: Nick Sawyer
The Tasmanian National Parks Association offers an independent voice for Tasmania’s national parks and reserves, to ensure they are managed for the conservation of the values for which they were proclaimed.