RACT plan to expand Freycinet Lodge angers members

OPPOSITION to the proposed expansion of the RACT’s Freycinet Lodge is growing, with a small contingent of the club’s members calling for a halt to the proposal.

Freycinet Lodge in the Freycinet National Park.

OPPOSITION to the proposed expansion of the RACT’s Freycinet Lodge is growing, with a small contingent of the club’s members calling for a halt to the proposal.

The State Government has proposed amending the 16-year-old Freycinet National Park management plan to allow the RACT to increase the size of the lodge.

The change would increase the RACT’s current leased area of the national park by 5.6ha — enabling 12 serviced sites for motor homes and 12 cabins to be developed.

The project is part of the State Government’s expressions of interest process for tourism developments in wilderness areas.

The Tasmanian Jobs and Investment Fund allocated $1m to the proposal.

GREENS’ ANGER AT FREYCINET LODGE PLAN

RACT members who oppose the plan have started collecting the names of the 50 members required to trigger a special general meeting to discuss the issue with the board.

RACT member of 27 years and Freycinet Action Network member Sophie Underwood is sponsoring the petition.

Thirty six-year RACT member and University of Tasmania geography and ecology professor Jamie Kirkpatrick, will second the petition.

Mr Kirkpatrick has been a member of government committees that have advised on parks management in Tasmania since the 1970s.

They said the current management plan for the Freycinet National Park contained a longstanding policy to cap the lodge at its current size and capacity.

“As members, we’re opposed to our organisation exploiting public land inside a national park for a growth strategy and financial gain,” Ms Underwood said.

“This development, the flawed Expression of Interest process and the special change to the management plan risk the good brand of the RACT.”

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Mr Kirkpatrick urged the RACT to “withdraw their proposal for expansion of the resort footprint and use their $1m free gift from the taxpayer to improve the quality and environmental probity of the infrastructure within the present footprint.”

Greens Senator Nick McKim and Wilderness Society spokesman Vica Bayley have also made their outrage to the proposal known.

Mr McKim has spoken of his concern that $1 million had been allocated to the project and blasted the EOI process as simply funding private companies.

Mr Bayley has accused the State Government of simply wanting to overturn a longstanding policy of the park’s management plan that caps lease size and accommodation development.

Environment Minister Matthew Groom has said the proposed amendment to the park management plan was being undertaken in accordance with all statutory requirements, including full public consultation. Consultation closed on February 1.