Upgrades to Cape Bruny Lighthouse postponed thanks to pandemic

Planned upgrades for a popular Tasmanian tourism attraction have been shelved until 2022 as COVID-19 cripples visitor numbers to the once thriving region.

PLANS to open a new cafe and accommodation at the Cape Bruny lighthouse have been postponed for two years, as a local business operator struggles with the loss of tourism income.

Craig Parsey, of Bruny Island Safaris, said work was set to begin on converting the historic buildings near the lighthouse into a cafe and accommodation later this year.

But most of his customer base is from interstate, so when the borders closed for the pandemic, the income stream dried up instantly.

Craig Parsey, of Bruny Island Safaris, has had to postpone redevelopments planned for the Cape Bruny Lighthouse for two years due to the COVID-19 crisis.

“The core of our business is bus tours of the island, including a tour of the lighthouse and visiting local eateries,” he said.

“We used to run those seven days a week, but now we will be doing them on weekends only, until tourism starts up again.

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Mr Parsey said the buildings were heritage listed and within a national park area, so there was a long and expensive approvals process involved in any development, and Bruny Island Safaris simply no longer had the money.

Australia’s Southern most lighthouse at Bruny Island is open to the public for the first time since it was first commissioned 177 years ago.

“We are still here and still want to do this, it’s just delayed somewhat because of the financial pressures, we’ve had to put off staff,” he said.

Mr Parsey grew up in and around lighthouses: his parents, Tony and Robyn Parsey, were caretakers at the Cape Bruny, Maatsuyker Island and Eddystone Point lighthouses, all before he was nine years old.

So he is passionate about lighthouses and improving the facilities at Cape Bruny was important to him.

“Once we get the cafe and accommodation up and running it will employ another five or six people on the island, but we won’t be able to start on it until 2022 now,” he said.

“We are starting our bus tours again on July 4, two days a week, and will add more as travel restrictions are lifted and people start coming back in.”

For more information visit brunyislandsafaris.com