Lake Malbena helicopter proposal back to the drawing board after court win by Wilderness Society
A controversial plan to build a luxury eco-tourism development at Lake Malbena, bringing in tourists by helicopter, has been dealt a massive blow. LATEST >>
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PLANS to build a luxury helicopter tourism development in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park have been dealt a massive blow following a successful court battle waged by the Wilderness Society.
On Wednesday, the Full Court of the Supreme Court agreed with the environmental organisation that errors were made in the granting of a permit to developer Wild Drake, which wants to build a standing camp at Halls Island, Lake Malbena, and ferry up to 30 helicopter flights of tourists to the remote location each year.
In their judgment, Chief Justice Alan Blow and Acting Justice David Porter ordered the matter to now be remitted to Tasmania’s Resource Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal for reconsideration.
The tribunal will need to reassess the proposal to see if the land management uses are in accordance with the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Management Plan.
Justice Michael Brett was outnumbered in his dismissing the Wilderness Society’s appeal, which was heard in a full court hearing last October.
The group had argued the permit approval failed to consider the negative impacts of the proposal on the environment and existing recreational park users like fishers and walkers.
Last November, the proposal faced an additional roadblock when Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley deemed it was a “controlled action”.
That meant official assessment would be required under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to address a number of concerns such as helicopter noise, possible impacts on the endangered wedge-tailed eagle, increased fire risk, erosion, impacts on wilderness values and impacts to Aboriginal cultural heritage.
The Wilderness Society and the Tasmanian National Parks Association have been fighting Wild Drake in a series of court clashes since the project was first knocked back in February 2019 by the Central Highlands Council - but subsequently approved by the tribunal.
Wild Drake, run by husband-and-wife team Daniel and Simone Hackett, previously won the support for its controversial proposal by the state government, which granted it a business license and lease.
“We’ll follow the prescribed planning processes before us, just as we always have,” Mr Hackett said after Wednesday’s judgment.
“The science backing the project is sound, and the long-term project will be achieved. Lengthy delays in Tasmanian environmental projects are nothing new to those involved.”
But Wilderness Society campaign manager Tom Allen said outside court he hoped the project would be shut down altogether at a federal level.
“This is a victory for everyone who has fought for years to keep World Heritage wilderness public and intact,” he said.
“This proposal is a problem as it sought to privatise World Heritage wilderness and take it away from the many so the few could profit.”
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said it was a “significant win” but said conservationists had “won a battle, not the war”.
She also slammed the state government’s granting Wild Drake an exclusive lease, which she said was about $80 a week.
“It’s disgraceful, and most Tasmanians see straight through it.”
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