The Rottnest Society

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 19 May 2009 

REVIEW THE ACT - or - REALIGN THE RIMP with the CURRENT ACT

URGENT ACTION REQUIRED -WHAT YOU CAN DO!

The draft Rottnest Island Management Plan 2009-2014 (RIMP) was released for public comment on 26th February 2009.  The public comment period closed at 5 pm on 5th May.  Read our submission here.

The draft RIMP pre-empts a proposed review of the Act

EITHER the Act should be reviewed and amended if that is what Western Australians want OR the draft RIMP should be realigned with the Act as it currently is.

There is much that is commendable about this draft plan...

...BUT the Rottnest Society believes that the draft RIMP should be NOT be accepted as it is.

The overall direction of this draft management plan is no longer aligned with the Rottnest Island Authority Act 1987.  In our view that is a very serious matter indeed.

To date the island has largely been managed in accordance with the requirements of the Act.  However this draft RIMP sets out a plan for a serious divergence from the purpose for which the island is managed, as required by the Act, in that it presents a major drive to become a tourist destination - as distinct from a local holiday and recreation destination.  A number of the yet-to-be-developed strategies proposed in the draft appear to be designed to underpin this management direction.  Further, a number of the accommodation developments proposed appear to be designed to provide accommodation deemed suitable for tourists.  Aligned with this there appears to be a move to somehow modify the island culture to make it a more acceptable tourist destination.  The public knows that there is a difference between 'holiday and recreation' and 'eco-tourism' - they are not the same thing. 

Further, the Rottnest Society, believes that the draft RIMP is fundamentally flawed in that a number of the initiatives are not sufficiently developed for the public to make informed comment or for the RIA to make appropriate management decisions.  And several development proposals have insufficient information for informed comment. Also a key visitor impact research project should be completed so that its results can be taken into account in the development of these initiatives.

The draft RIMP's Initiative 1 proposes a review of the Act and includes a possible change for the RIA to a Government Trading Enterprise model.  Other amendments to the Act have been proposed over the years so it is timely to carry out a review.  However such a review could take years to get through the Parliament.  We see two possible options:

Accommodation developments

The draft RIMP proposed a number of accommodation developments in the settlement area - with far too little information about them for us to be able to make informed comment.  These proposals include:

• A proposed expansion of 'guest accommodation' (hotel rooms) on a site next to the Rottnest Hotel (no indication of size or number of rooms/beds);

• An eco-tourism development is proposed for South Thomson – no location or number of units given;

• The 120-room/350 bed Mt Herschel hotel – currently without a proponent but likely to go ahead.

The Chairman is right!

If all of the above developments go ahead over the next five years it might mean:

DELAY THE MT HERSCHEL HOTEL...

The original Mt Herschel hotel plan could not be said to have a 'low impact on the landscape'.  Nor was it 'consistent with the scale and contour of the natural landscape'.  Any hotel to be built on this site should meet updated building and sustainability guidelines - and should not be approved until those guidelines are approved and in place.  The planning process did not conform to the Act and the RIMP.

As of February 2009 the negotiations with Broadwater Consortium to build a hotel at Mt Herschel have ended.  The RIA intends to seek another interested proponent to build this hotel.  However a number of questions we sought answers to have never been answered.  We have recently asked for answers and to date have received none on this matter (see 'Supplementary questions').  The public deserves answers before another proponent is signed up.

Original images of the Broadwater concept plan can be found at HOTEL AT MT HERSCHEL

The draft RIMP also proposes a feasibility study of a marina in South Thomson - without any indication of size or number of pens...see images.