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Proposed Hotel Development at Mt. Herschell

Site for proposed Mt Herschell hotel development - note that the site highlighted is the old bitumen water catchment area and is a total of 20 hectares.  2-4 hectares above Longreach is earmarked for the proposed development .

The Rottnest Island Taskforce originally identified an area between South Thomsons villas and the Army Jetty for a 150-room 'low-impact eco-tourism' development and recommended investigating further development on the Mt Herschell site at a future date.  It is clear that, if there is to be any such development on the island, the Mt. Herschell site is much more suitable than the South Thomson's site.  This is because the degraded water catchment will not be rehabilitated as a water-collection site.  The Rottnest Island Authority proposes that the remainder (16-18 hectares) of this site would be rehabilitated.  Thus there would be no need to clear trees or interfere with dunes - as there would be at the South Thomson's site for this type of development.

The Society is seriously concerned that the introduction of 'high-end' tourists may well bring pressure for more 'up-market' facilities and services on the island, more coach tours, and a much greater disparity between 'high-end' and 'low-end' accommodation.  Why?  Because amongst the highly valued things (by many, although not all) about Rottnest is an egalitarian quality, and a limited number of business demanding that we buy.

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