Freycinet National Park standing camps: Tourism operator hits back at online ‘misinformation’

The pioneering eco-tourism operator behind a controversial proposal to reinstate two ‘standing camps’ in Freycinet National Park has hit out at online “misinformation” about its plans.

Joan Masterman at the now defunct Cooks Beach standing camp during the early days of the Freycinet Experience Walk.

The pioneering eco-tourism operator behind a controversial proposal to reinstate two ‘standing camps’ in Freycinet National Park has hit out at online “misinformation” about its development.

Earlier this month, the Mercury reported that the company behind Freycinet Experience Walk had applied to Glamorgan-Spring Bay Council to reinstate its camps at Bluestone Beach and Cooks Beach, which it operated between 1995–2004.

According to a report in support of the application, the camps would feature a communal kitchen/dining tent, six two-person tents and a toilet block, all entirely demountable and possessing no permanent infrastructure. The camps would be erected each October and dismantled in May, hosting guests from November to April.

Example of tent to be used in Freycinet Experience Pty Ltd's standing camp proposal. Picture: Glamorgan-Spring Bay Council

The camps were retired in the wake of storm damage in favour of participants on the multi-day hike using Friendly Beaches Lodge, which is also owned by the company, as their base.

The application led to significant public debate, with company director Michael Masterman, son of co-founder Joan Masterman, issuing a statement on Friday to correct online “misinformation” about the proposal.

“Following a planning permit application submitted to the council, misinformation has circulated,” he said.

Overview of Freycinet Experience Pty Ltd's Cooks Corner standing camp proposal. Picture: Glamorgan-Spring Bay Council

Mr Masterman said neither standing camp would impact on existing public infrastructure or beaches. The Cooks Beach site is 450m to the west of the public campground and the Bluestone site in a disused quarry, he said.

Mr Masterman said the company has been working towards reinstating the camps, for which its licence has never expired and fees continue to be paid, for four years and consulted widely on the proposal.

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“Land owner consent for the current application has been provided by the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service on behalf of the Crown after an exhaustive four-year process of assessment including Aboriginal heritage and ecological assessments,” he said.

“PWS... has consented to restart of the camps consistent with the contracts signed with Freycinet Experience in 1995.”

Holly and Michael Masterman, right, with their son Isaac at Friendly Beaches Lodge, which was built 30 years ago. Joan Masterman, Michael's mother, co-founded Freycinet Experience Walk, which is a four-day hike in Freycinet National Park and was a groundbreaking Tasmanian tourism initiative at the time.

He said that Freycinet Experience clients “loved” the standing camps when they were operational and that Tourism Tasmania had advised the proposal would be a “positive for environmental tourism” in the region.

The proposal’s detractors include newly elected Tasmanian Greens MP Vica Bayley.

He previously pointed out in parliament that the Freycinet Peninsula Master Plan 2019 recommended a “maintenance of the current intensity of commercial day-based operations south of the Hazards in the Freycinet National Park, with no further built tourism infrastructure”.

A change.org petition against the proposal has garnered 1790 signatures at the time of writing.

The petition’s founder raised concerns about the privatisation of public land, the size of the camps, and the possibility of lingering environmental damage.

A for-profit tourism operator taking over a section of the national park was in “dangerous competition with the ability of the environment to recover from damage, waste management and overuse,” her petition says.

Freycinet Action Network (FAN) convener Sophie Underwood is another to express unease at the proposal. She confirmed FAN had formally objected to the proposal during council’s consultation process.

In her submission, she said FAN had a “longstanding position of not supporting new commercial developments” within the national park, and that the development was “inconsistent with the key initiatives” of the Freycinet master plan.