Couple realises ‘dream’ with new accommodation development on ‘doorstep’ of national park
The couple behind a new pod accommodation option at the entrance to one of Tasmania’s most visited national parks says the development has the potential to transform the region.
Tasmania
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A Derwent Valley couple is about to realise a “really big dream” by launching a new pod accommodation option on the doorstep of one of the state’s most visited national parks.
Rachel and Greg Power, who run the Waterfalls Cafe and Gallery in the Mount Field National Park visitor centre, have long aspired to develop accommodation in the region, which they say local businesses have been crying out for.
“It’s one family with a really big dream,” she said. “And that has always been probably our biggest hurdle.”
“Banks, in the beginning, were very helpful until you’d ask them to actually stump up the money. And that happened so many times that it was just really disheartening.”
Eventually, though, the Powers managed to achieve their vision for the 1.7ha Mt Field Retreat site on Lake Dobson Rd, which they bought close to a decade ago.
They will install four one-bedroom pods – designed by Podmatrix – on Tuesday, with a further eight still to come, as well as five luxury units and two family pods.
The couple also has a plan to build a 100-seat conference centre that will double as a regional training hub, which Ms Power said would be a “game-changer” for the area.
“[It will] bring new markets and new opportunities,” she said. “It means we can host weddings, we can host business events.”
“It’s [also] a gallery space. So there’s another thing for people to come and see.”
Ms Power said one of the key challenges facing the upper Derwent Valley region was that it was still a “day trip” for visitors and that it could only satisfy about 3 per cent of national park visitation in existing accommodation.
“So that means we stay a day trip,” she said. “And when the [state] government’s catchcry is regional dispersal and getting people to stay longer in the regional areas, you need this [accommodation].”
“And the idea with the conference centre is, we’re never going to be able to have 100 people stay on our block – we never want that many people. It’s about building the community, it’s about building everybody else’s business.
“If people have got somewhere to stay, dinners become more viable, there’s more people for the tours, there’s more people on-site.
“And it stops the visitation being through that peak lunch period that a day trip always is.”
Ms Power said she and her husband would ultimately have invested more than $5m into the project upon its completion.
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Originally published as Couple realises ‘dream’ with new accommodation development on ‘doorstep’ of national park
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