Cape Bruny Lighthouse’s $330,000 revamp before Expressions of Interest deal

More than $300,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent upgrading facilities at a lighthouse while the Government was secretly negotiating to offer the site to a private operator.

TASMANIA’S Parks and Wildlife Service spent nearly $330,000 of taxpayers money upgrading facilities at Cape Bruny Lighthouse at the same time the State Government was secretly negotiating to offer the site to a private operator.

The Government today said the works were long planned and had nothing to do with talks to lease the site.

FIRST TICK FOR BRUNY LIGHTHOUSE PROPOSAL

Parks installed a new architect-designed toilet block at the historic Superintendent’s Cottage and fenced, painted and reroofed the building at Cape Bruny between May and June this year. 

According to the Government tenders website, taxpayers spent $326,739.85 on upgrades to the site.

The Mercury understands carpark and road upgrades were also carried out at additional cost. 

The Government revealed at 5pm on Friday that after a “rigorous and transparent” assessment under the controversial Expressions of Interest process, Parks would enter into negotiations with Bruny Island Safaris for an exclusive lease over the site.

The bid has not previously been made public because of the secrecy provisions surrounding the EOI process.

The date the bid was lodged has not been made public, but it was part of the second round of the process, which opened in December 2016.

The company plans to invest $180,000 and employ 10 staff to provide tours and drive visitors to the nearby lighthouse in an all-terrain vehicle.

It will also “protect and repurpose three existing heritage buildings, providing visitor accommodation, a caretaker’s cottage and a visitor’s centre/cafe”.

Australia’s southernmost lighthouse at Bruny Island.

Final lease and licence negotiations over the site have yet to take place, but Environment, Parks and Heritage Minister Peter Gutwein said the Government was wholly behind the proponent.

“We will continue to back tourism operators who are willing to put up their own resources in order to develop sensitive and appropriate tourism ideas in our National Parks, reserves and Crown Lands,” he said.

Greens leader Cassy O’Connor accused the Government of the stealthy privatisation of public assets.

“It’s a very bad look for a Government to have invested $330,000 of public money into a public facility which it is now going to be privatised through a secret process that the people of Bruny Island only found out about at five o’clock on Friday afternoon,” she said.

A Government spokesman said the works had been in the pipeline for some time.

“The initial planning for these works was prior to the RAA process being commenced in January 2017 which was well before the proponent submitted their EOI for Cape Bruny Lighthouse Station,” the spokesman said.

“The upgrades were required to maintain and protect this popular site, which attracts up to 150,000 visitors each year.”

A Government attempt to lease the site in 2012 failed.