Choppers fly past a barrage of flak for Lake Malbena tourism proposal

Anglers, bushwalkers and the Commonwealth’s own heritage advisory body told the Federal Government of their strong opposition to the Lake Malbena development ahead of its approval.

Lake Malbena and Halls Island in the Tasmania’s World Heritage Area, the site of an exclusive fly fishing eco-resort proposal.

ANGLERS, bushwalkers and the Commonwealth’s own heritage advisory body told the Federal Government of their strong opposition to the controversial Lake Malbena luxury tourism development ahead of it receiving the green light.

The bulk of the 129 submissions made to the federal Environment Department and released under Freedom of Information laws expressed serious concerns about the processes that allowed the proposed helicopter-accessed standing camp in the World Heritage-listed Walls of Jerusalem National Park to proceed to the Commonwealth approvals stage.

The Australian Heritage Council, the Federal Government’s principal adviser on heritage, said the proposal’s buildings, helipads and tracks did not conform to the zoning prescriptions of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area management plan.

It said its “several fundamental concerns” were not addressed in the information received from proponents Daniel and Simone Hackett, of Wild Drake.

“The cumulative impact on both world heritage and natural heritage values would be considerable, particularly noting the impact of helicopters on the outstanding natural aesthetic value of the wilderness area in which it is situated,” the body said.

Federal Environment Department assessments and governance deputy secretary James Barker ultimately signed off on the Lake Malbena proposal on behalf of Environment Minister Melissa Price partly on the grounds that Mr and Mrs Hackett had agreed to a series of measures aimed at mitigating the development’s impact on the surrounding wilderness.

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Proponents of a luxury camp on Halls Island in the Walls of Jerusalem Daniel and Simone Hackett. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

Mr Hackett said on Monday his proposal was “tiny” and that the management prescriptions and conditions attached to his licence were legally binding.

“There will be no helicopter use for more than 305 days per year or so, and for the remaining days our flight time is restricted to between 18 and 36 minutes use only,” Mr Hackett said.

“As tourism operators we are held to the highest standards of accountability in the country — far higher than recreational users – and something we welcome as we strive to be the best in the world.”

The proposal would have about 120 chopper flights carrying tourists through the Walls of Jerusalem each year with the flight path mapped to avoid eagles’ nests and walking tracks. However, Mr Barker said last week he was not sure how many flights there would be in total as he was not sure of the servicing and maintenance requirements

Anglers Alliance Tasmania, representing about 27,000 of the state’s licensed freshwater anglers, said helicopter access would have a significant impact on the “remoteness, silence and connectivity to nature” enjoyed by bushwalking anglers.

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Several submissions made to the Commonwealth by people who regularly visited the area attacked the State Government’s expressions of interest process, which invites unsolicited proposals for development in the state’s national parks, reserves and Crown Land.

The Tasmanian Fly Tyers’ Club said there was strong concern within its club the Lake Malbena proposal would “open the floodgates to future similar proposals whose approvals will have been facilitated and to which objection will become increasingly futile”.

Another person wrote: “People are attracted to Tasmania by our wilderness areas but the present state government seems hellbent on destroying the core value of wildness for the sake of commercial gain by a very small number of operators.”

The State Government also came under fire for rezoning the Lake Malbena area from “wilderness” to “self-reliant recreational zone” — a change that would allow for development.

Mr Hackett said: “The 1999 zoning showed Halls Island and the private hut to be 20 metres or so to the west of the ‘self-reliant’ boundary, that ran in an undefined fashion through the waters of Lake Malbena.

“Whether this was a historical zoning error or otherwise I’m not sure, but to paraphrase the recent words of leading conservationists, wilderness zones and huts are a non sequitur: a contradiction.”

Premier Will Hodgman, also Tourism and Parks Minister, last week called on Tasmanians to back tourism proposals that “jump all the high hurdles that local, state and commonwealth governments set”.

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The Central Highlands Council, the Hackett’s final hurdle, on Monday said it had received a development application for the Halls Island development.

Mayor Loueen Triffitt acknowledged public interest in the proposal and said it would be advertised for public comment “in due course”.

The Wilderness Society will challenge the Federal Government’s process of approving Lake Malbena in the Federal Court in March.