Parks and Wildlife joins Malbena appeal

The head of Parks and Wildlife has applied to join the legal push to overturn the Central Highlands Council’s rejection of the controversial Lake Malbena development.

THE head of Parks and Wildlife has applied to join the legal push to overturn the Central Highlands Council’s rejection of the Lake Malbena development.

The parks department has confirmed National Parks and Wildlife director John Whittington had applied to join Daniel and Simone Hackett’s appeal of the council’s decision in the Resources Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal.

“The Director of National Parks and Wildlife [Dr Whittington] has sought to be made a party to the appeal as he has a direct interest in the matter due to his statutory function,” a department spokesman said in a statement.

The Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment spokesman did not elaborate on the arguments Dr Whittington would make before the tribunal.

Mr and Mrs Hackett want to develop a helicopter-accessed standing camp on Halls Island, which is situated on Lake Malbena in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park. The area sits within the protected Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

Walker and trout fisher Richard Webb leaves Halls Island on Lake Malbena in the Walls of Jerusalem NP and Tamsmania's World Heritage Area, where an exclusive fly fishing eco resort has been proposed for the island by Wild Drake. Picture: SUPPLIED

MORE:

LAKE MALBENA EXPLAINER

GREEN LIGHT FOR MALBENA FLIGHTS

LAKE MALBENA DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION LODGED

The State Government amended the TWWHA management plan partly to allow for the development.

The Lake Malbena proposal last year received the green light from the federal Environment Department because the proponents agreed to voluntary conditions aimed at minimising its impact on the wilderness values of the area.

But the Central Highlands Council knocked back the proposal at a special meeting in February on the grounds it did not comply with parts of their planning scheme — particularly provisions related to bushfire and stormwater management.

The decision was made against the advice of the council’s planner. Mayor Lou Triffitt, speaking after the decision, said she believed the Central Highlands Council had been a test case for the State Government’s “expressions of interest” process.

That initiative allows for unsolicited development proposals for public land — including the TWWHA.

MORE OF TODAY’S NEWS:

KINGBOROUGH AQUATIC CENTRE GETS CASH SPLASH

AIRPORT AEROBRIDGE OMISSION ‘APPALLING’

REASONS FOR UNI’S CITY MOVE ‘PALPABLE NONSENSE’

GP TAKES AIM AT HEALTH MNISTER

HOME SEARCHED, VEHICLE SEIZED IN MURDER PROBE

The Wilderness Society has joined the Central Highlands Council before the appeals tribunal, meaning the green group will try to add weight to the council’s decision to block the project. It kicked off a fundraiser last week with a goal of $50,000 to cover its costs in the tribunal.

It is separately challenging the federal Environment Department’s process of approving the development in the Federal Court.

Speaking on Dr Whittington’s application to join the Hacketts’ appeal, acting campaign manager Tom Allen on Friday described the expressions of interest process as “crazy”.

“The Government has bent over backwards to advantage a private developer to profit from public World Heritage land,” Mr Allen said.

“Government departments are supposed to be neutral but Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service is being turned into a travel agency flogging Will Hodgman’s madcap World Heritage holidays from hell.”

[e-mail]