Old Sydney Town plan could close Australian Reptile Park
Plans by a Chinese consortium to redevelop the Old Sydney Town site at Somersby could put the Australian Reptile Park out of business and ruin the region’s premium tourist attraction.
Plans by a Chinese consortium to redevelop the Old Sydney Town site at Somersby could put the Australian Reptile Park out of business according to its owners.
The joint owners of the Central Coast’s premier tourist attraction are quietly seething about World Culture Tourism Villages concepts for the 120 hectare parcel of land revealed for the first time last week.
Their concepts include high density residential, hotels, bars, restaurants, retail and some revamped version of Old Sydney Town. They also mentioned “growing” the Australian Reptile Park which leases part of the site.
Joint Australian Reptile Park Owner John Weigel said he was concerned about the plans which he only learned about when they were published by the Central Coast Express Advocate last week.
He said the new owners did not own the reptile park which holds an “iron clad” 60 year lease over the land on which it operates.
“The Australian Reptile Park has not and will not change hands and its operation will not change as a result of the purchase of the lease by the Chinese investors,” he said.
But Mr Weigel and co-owners Robyn Weigel, Tim Faulkner and Liz Vella said they were worried about broader plans for the site.
“We are very alarmed by apparent plans for the land surrounding our attraction — plans that would impact strongly on the tourism experience of 250,000 visitors annually,” Mr Weigel said.
“The plans now on display would completely change the outlook of the park,” he said.
Mr Weigel said World Cultural Tourism Village maps showed a “large format retailer” like Bunnings located directly in front of the park.
“Not only will this large format retailer completely change the bushland outlook of our park, it is also proposed to be built on land currently used for overflow parking in a long standing rental agreement arrangement we had with the previous owners of the land,” Mr Weigel said.
“Without those 500-700 extra parking spots, the reptile park will go out of business,” he said.
Unspecified “conservation activity zones” surrounding the reptile park also have its owners worried.
“We don’t know what activity the new owners propose to introduce to this perimeter, but we are gravely concerned about the impact on the bushland surroundings our visitors love,” Mr Weigel said.
Mr Weigel said the award winning park’s venom progams and conservation activities like Devil Ark could aso be put in jeopardy.
Park general manager Tim Faulkner said he had “worked very hard to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with the principals of the group despite language and cultural barriers.”
“We have sent representatives to visit the major shareholders of the project in China twice, have hosted them for tea, dinner and a fair dinkum Aussie barbecue at the Weigels home,” Mr Faulkner said.
“Although we have repeatedly raised our concerns both verbally and in writing and offered to support their dreams for the land, we have not at any time received a reasonable response, and learned of plans that will threaten our viability through the media,” he said.
Mr Faulkner said he was very surprised by the “so-called community consultation” which took place over the weekend at a number of “pop-up” feedback sessions.
He said stakeholders and the community had not been given enough time properly have their say.
“We suggest World Cultural Tourism Village goes back to the drawing board and hold a comprehensive community consultation exercise,” he said.
OST owner responds
“We value the site’s history and we want to deliver something here that the people of the Central Coast can be proud of, which is respectful of the past but which also provides employment, recreation and tourism opportunities for the future.
“That is why we are committed to a long and ongoing conversation with the community about the site and we look forward to hearing their feedback over five weeks on our initial ideas.
After we have considered that feedback we will then refine our vision and come back for further consultation later in the year.
“We are very committed to keeping the iconic Australian Reptile Park and Ploddy the Dinosaur because we recognise how important they are to this community.
“We have been consulting with the Australian Reptile Park since July 2018 and have held several meetings with the Park, including a meeting on the draft Structure Plan in April 2019.
We would be very pleased to work with them to address their concerns moving forward.”
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