The Society was involved in a project last year to revegetate the area at Henrietta Rocks, where a new walkway and stairs was constructed. The Winnit Club were also part of the project built the walkway and tiered stairs. Our part in the project included the revegetation of the tracks and surrounding area of the new walkway.
The Society is concerned about the Rottnest Island Authority's plans to spend millions of dollars on the Island's low-key golf course and clubhouse by irrigating the greens and fairways to match mainland standards. The only people consulted about this proposal were members of the golf and "country club". There are further talks about a marina development in Thompson Bay which may involve building a sea wall and altering the existing coral structures around Natural Jetty. Meanwhile other facilities agreed to in the official Rottnest Island Management Plan 2009-14 are being ignored or put on the 'back burner", like the aboriginal memorial graveyard development and the replacement camping area still only partly completed.
Rottnest is simply magic. We need you to email you local MP and tell them not to support inappropriate developments. Which means:
Rottnest is the people's island, not a playground for the rich!
Phone, email or write to your local parliamentarians and demand public comsultation on these issues.
The CCWA website includes a "Contact your MP" link where you can add your concerns about Rottnest to an automatic email to your local MP. Please contact your local member directly or use the CCWA link (ccwa.org.au/askmyMP)
The Rottnest Society is an incorporated not-for-profit ‘friends’ group that devotes its' energies to ensuring a future for Rottnest which will allow our children and their children to enjoy many of the same experiences shared by several generations of West Australian holiday makers and other visitors. The Society does this both through ‘hands on’ activities such as tree planting and weeding, and by scrutinising - and commenting on - management plans, lobbying for the conservation and restoration of the natural environment, and for the preservation of the ‘Rottnest ethos’.
We’ve got used to seeing press reports about proposed developments on Rottnest Island that reflect decisions made without public debate. “The West Australian” newspaper appears to print whatever it is told by the Minister or the RIA chairman with no questioning of whether a specific proposal is economically sound and/or in line with what traditional island visitors want. How this can be classed as ‘journalism’ boggles the imagination. Efforts to have the newspaper ask a few relevant questions have failed miserably.
Since the collapse of the painfully protracted negotiations over the proposed Longreach Bay Hotel, there have been a number of announcements in The West Australian newspaper concerning other development plans. These emanate from the Chairman of the RIA, Laurie O'Meara, apparently with the approval of the Minister for Tourism, Dr Kim Hames.
They include the following:
The saga of the proposed Longreach Bay Hotel development continues. Having lost a project partner last year, Pinctada Hotels and Resorts, the preferred proponent, was given a one month extension to come up with the appropriate funding arrangements. Having exhausted that period, they were granted a further three months. More extensions have been granted with a final deadline set for Friday 25th November.
The Rottnest Island Authority Board released a media statement on the 25th November confirming that the Pinctada Rottnest Island Resort and Spa Pty Ltd had advised it was terminating its bid and negotiations for the hotel development opportunity at Longreach Bay.
Read the latest updates and view images of the proposed development...
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