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Phone numbers & addresses of Premier & other MPs
Report on Public Meeting
Do our Rottnest Quiz
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NEWS News NEWS News NEWS News NEWS |
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Public comment invited on proposed amendments to the Management Plan closes on Monday 23rd April. How to comment here. What do these proposed amendments mean? This is not a public comment process on the need for a hotel, or for what type or size of hotel. However, we understand that a hotel could not legally be built on the Mt Herschel site without amending the Rottnest Island Management Plan (RIMP) in several places. Obviously if enough people submitted comment opposing these amendments it would not be possible for the project to go ahead. If enough people support the proposed amendments then presumably that would mean the development could go ahead. The Rottnest Society committee has been reviewing what this means and developing our response to this development. The process leading to this point has only served to deepen our reservations about the proposed hotel – both in relation to the flawed process to date, and to this particular hotel, on a number of important counts. We have therefore developed a Position Paper which summarises our concerns and discusses solutions. There is, moreover, a serious question about the wisdom of decommissioning the water catchment area without reviewing the decision to do so. The current RIMP contains a recommendation for maintaining and repairing the catchment area. It was the Rottnest Island Taskforce which recommended decommissioning it and we believe that an independent review should be sought before this capacity is lost entirely. We have asked the Premier to ensure that this is done. We have also produced a Policy Statement on the need for Community Service Obligations and a clarification and affirmation of the purpose for which Rottnest is managed under the Rottnest Island Authority Act (1987). We have written to the Premier about these matters. Although there is some duplication with the Position Paper we are including the Policy Statement on the website as it also stands on its own. We believe that its implementation would be an important step forward in securing a viable future for Rottnest. We will be making a submission to the RIA in which we oppose the proposed amendments that relate to the Mt Herschel development. We understand that the Board is likely to make every effort to muster support for the amendments over the coming weeks. It is therefore vital that our members and sympathetic members of the broader public do everything in their power to ensure wide discussion of the issues involved. We ask you to do make an effort to convince the Premier, the Minister and the Board that these amendments should not be approved. The proposed amendments can be read here. Please note that Amendment 1 relates to rezoning the land on which the new Dome is to be built. At this stage we the Society will be supporting that amendment. All of the amendments from 2-8 relate to the Mt Herschel development and we will be opposing all of them. We have prepared a document with the amendments inserted into the relevant sections of the RIMP which can be read here. You can submit your comment by writing to
The
Rottnest Island Authority
Or by delivering in person to: If you would like to receive email bulletins from us please email us at general@rottnestsociety.org.au
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27/2/07 2 month public comment process for proposed amendments to the Management Plan - only because of the work of this Society and committed Rottnest lovers! On 23/2/07 the Rottnest Island Authority released details of proposed amendments to the Rottnest Island Management Plan (RIMP). These changes would correct some oversights in proper process and are necessary to allow them to build any extra accommodation at all on Rottnest. Legally this hotel cannot be built unless these amendments are approved by enough members of the public. Together the Rottnest Island Act 1987 and the RIMP provide a comprehensive framework for managing the island. The public now has the opportunity of deciding whether to support or oppose the amendments - and two months to decide what to do. The Rottnest Society is considering the implications of the proposed amendments and will post more information here shortly. In the meantime the can be read here. The amendments inserted into the applicable RIMP sections can be read here
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22/2/07 Public pressure brings delay to new hotel at Rottnest . Today the Rottnest Island Authority (RIA) Chairman Laurie O'Meara announced that the RIA they would seek to rectify oversights in the planning process for the new hotel by proposing two amendments to the Rottnest Island Management Plan (RIMP). One of these proposed amendments will seek to rezone the use for which the site at Mt Herschel from Utilities and Services so that a hotel could legally be built on it. The other will seek to change the clause which says that the only accommodation that can be built is to replace existing buildings. This is very good news indeed. The Minister and the RIA have overlooked the RIMP (which is the guiding document) in the implementation of Taskforce recommmendations. There will be an advertised public comment process of two months which we believe will be advertised in "The West Australian" on Saturday 24th Feb and Wed 28th Feb as well as in the Government Gazette on Friday 23rd. This is good news indeed however the public has still not had an opportunity to debate the pros and cons of having a hotel in the first place, whether there should be any extra accommodation, and if so what kind. We can use the next two months to debate these issues. Then, if we don't want it then we can tell the RIA that we do not approve of amending the RIMP to allow it to go ahead. If enough of us decide we approve of the hotel then we can tell them that we approve of the changes to the plan. Another possibility is that we tell them that we do not approve these changes unless there are substantial changes to the proposal. Thus we now need to properly discuss the issues and concerns about any development, and this one in particular. We also need to seek proper answers to the questions found elsewhere on this website, and any others you might have. We are reviewing what we need to do and will keep you posted on what action you can take over the next few weeks. Many members of the public who care about the future of Rottnest joined with the Rottnest Society to pressure and question the Premier, the Tourism Minster and the Rottnest Island Authority on the wholly inadequate process undertaken in the development of plans for the new hotel at Mt Herschel. The Rottnest Society uncovered a number of irregularities and questioned these. The RIA was forced to seek legal advice from the State Solicitor who advised them that they needed to take the action above. So thanks to any and all of you who have contributed to this success - and please stay tuned. If you would like to receive email bulletins from us please email us at general@rottnestsociety.org.au After the Public Meeting - Where to now? 10th Feb
Since the Public Meeting It was clear from the meeting that there were no satisfactory answers to a number of serious questions so we have spent the the week since the meeting talking to many people including journalists, politicians, Society members and other members of the public. We are exploring a number of different avenues for further action, including seeking advice from the Ombudsman's Office (fruitlessly as it turned out). We will be seeking legal opinion as to the legality or otherwise of the process to date as it relates to the Act and the Management Plan. We will also be seeking to have a number of questions asked in Parliament - the Lower House sits on 27th Feb and the Upper House not until some time in March. We are receiving phone calls and emails from many people who share our concerns. We know that some of you have also contacted the Ombudsman's Office and are contacting Members of Parliament. This is good - it is really important that as many people as possible write, email, or phone politicians. For more information on what you can do click here. Don't forget to submit your comments on the proposed development by Wednesday 21st February 2007- but first, we ask you to read about the issues and questions here... The Public Meeting About 130 people (including many Society members, and many non-members) turned attended our Rally for Rottnest Public Meeting at the Swan Yacht Club in East Fremantle on Sat. 3rd Feb. Considering how hot it was it was a very reasonable turn-up. The Agenda for the meeting was divided into two topics, the process and the proposed development. The meeting heard Chair of the Rottnest Island Authority, Laurie O'Meara, outline the process to date from the Authority's perspective. Rottnest Society Convenor Sue Folks outlined the Society's concerns about the process, and lack of community consultation. Questions from the floor followed. It was clear that those present mostly felt very unhappy about the process - ie how we got to this point where a 120-room boutique hotel is a fait accompli, without it having been subjected to a comprehensive public comment process. CEO of the preferred proponent Broadwater Consortium, Scott Cogar, gave some information about the development and the company, and an architect also spoke about some of the design features. Rottnest Society Secretary, Eric Moxham, talked about the Society's concerns about the development. The Society's concerns are very much about a number of serious unanswered questions as outlined elsewhere on this website and it cannot be said that satisfactory answers were received to a number of those questions at the meeting. It is evident that from a design point of view there are, from what we have been told at this point, a number of good design features about this proposed development - but as one speaker from the floor asked "is this development appropriate for Rottnest?" People asked questions and expressed concerns on a whole range of topics including the length of the lease, whether there was any research to back the claim of increased visitor numbers in winter and questions about the utilities raised in the Norman Disney and Young Report. No satisfactory answers were offered to the more in-depth questions. Those present indicated in no uncertain terms that they did not believe that a hotel at Rottnest should have a swimming pool - apparently it is seen as a necessity by the Broadwater for the conference market and this of course raises the question of just who decides what is appropriate for Rottnest - the RIA, in consultation with the public as per the RIMP, or a developer and the Tourism interests around town such as Landbank and WA Tourism. No clear resolution emerged at the end of the meeting and Convenor Sue Folks advised the meeting that the Society would review the options and contact them via email and this website to advise what further action they will take. Moderator Barry Carbon did an excellent job of moderating for - which we thank him. Don't forget to submit your comments on the proposed development by Wednesday 21st February 2007- but first, we ask you to read about the issues and questions..
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A public comment period – of a sort. On Thursday 24th January - the Rottnest Island Authority (RIA) emailed stakeholders to advise that there would be a public comment period of one month from 24th Jan - 21st February. The RIA put a paid Ľ page advertisement in the West Australian (p.46). The ad. is a brief outline of progress on Rottnest – and buried in the text of that is the information that there will be a public comment period. Frankly, it looks as though it is designed with a hope that people don’t find it. As far as we are aware there was no media release to alert the reader to look for this information. A visit to the RIA’s website shows two files with very limited information and a number of images to look at. A committee member went to the RIA’s office to see what was available there and there is nothing more than is on the website. The panel which will review the submissions appears to be the same one that has overseen the tender and concept plans development process – very heavily weighted in favour of a tourist development, and hardly unbiased. So – a public comment period, yes, but very poorly advertised, and insufficient information available, with a biased panel! Hardly encouraging. We wrote immediately to the RIA, pointing out that this falls a long way short of the requirements under the Rottnest Island Authority Act 1987 which requires wide public notification and a minimum two month public comment period for any amendment to the Rottnest Island Management Plan (this is a major amendment). We asked them to take several actions to rectify this. We have now received a response with no change. We have since released a media statement about our concerns about this - and discovered that six days after this announcement no journalist that we spoke to was aware that there is now a public comment period (not even a 'West Australian' journalist). We will keep you posted. Please keep writing letters and signing the petition.
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17thJanuary 2007 The Public Meeting is now set for 4.00pm Saturday, 3rd February at the SWAN YACHT CLUB, Riverside Dve, EAST FREMANTLE. We are now organising speakers for the meeting. The online Petition numbers are building and the paper petition starts being distributed tomorrow. Media information is going out to various media outlets. Please talk to as many people as you can.
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14th January 2007 The Rottnest Society has developed an ACTION PLAN with a view to restoring a properly constituted public comment process for the proposed new hotel development at Mt Herschel. Read Campaign Background, and Comment to help you understand why we feel the need to do this. We urge all members of the public who care about the future of Rottnest to get involved - see the ACTION PLAN for ideas.
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Click here to view the colour images of the proposed new hotel released with the minister's Media Release
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Wednesday, 10th January 2007. Govt reneges on public comment for Mt Herschel development Well, now we know that Tourism Minister Sheila McHale does NOT intend to put the concept plans for the development at Mt Herschel out for public comment. The government has reneged on this. Her media release can be read at New hotel unveiled for Rottnest Island. It is our firm belief that the government should put the concept plans out for a properly constituted public comment period and we are now considering an action plan and will have more on this page in a few days. In the meantime please tell us what you think by emailing us at general@rottnestsociety.org.au
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Gov set to renege on public comment for new hotel at Rottnest (20th Dec 2006) The Rottnest Society recently wrote to the Minister for Tourism, the Hon. Sheila McHale requesting that she give an assurance that there would be a public comment period for concept plans for the proposed hotel development at Mt Herschel on Rottnest Island. The Minister’s response left us in no doubt that the government is about to renege on an undertaking given by the previous Minister, the Hon. Mark Mcgowan. Mr McGowan said in a media release dated 5th November 2005 that concept plans for this development (and a proposed luxury tent development at South Thomsons) would be “released for public comment in coming months”. This was widely reported in the media - and has never happened. The Society understands that a panel set up to oversee the tender process for the proposed development has recently recommended its preferred tenderer to the Minister after initially calling for expressions of interest earlier in the year. It is possible that there will be an announcement at any time now. The Society has met on a number of occasions with CEO Paolo Amaranti since Minister Mcgowan’s media release. Mr Amaranti continued until the latter half of this year to indicate that there would be a public comment period. In these meetings The Society was advised from time to time of progress of the tender process. We also expressed a number of concerns that we have about this proposed development. During that time, we continued, in good faith, to advise our members and other persons via our Newsletter that there would be a public comment period, and that that would be the appropriate time to comment – when we had something concrete to comment on. It is only in recent months that this development has been referred to as an hotel. Mr McGowan’s media release already cited referred to it as 3-4 star ‘accommodation development’ which is how it was generally referred to. Now we understand that it will indeed be a full 120-room hotel – and a 4-41/2 star one at that. Thus we now feel “let down, lied to and generally misled by this government and the Rottnest Island Authority” – as we have expressed to Minister McHale. We believe that the public should have an opportunity to comment on any significant development on Rottnest. We remember that in 2003-04 when the Rottnest Island Authority released a concept plan for a 100-room redevelopment of the Rottnest Hotel for public comment they received more than 200 submissions, many of which were critical of the proposal and which caused the RIA to go back to the drawing board. This proposal was aborted when the Rottnest Island Task Force was appointed, however most of the concerns expressed then apply to this development too. The RIA has since then developed sustainability guidelines for any development (including renovations) and this is a good step. However the guidelines have no means of measuring the impact of any development and thus are not much more than 'motherhood' statements. The RIA also set parameters such as not more than two-story and we understand that they were weighting plans in favour of those without air-conditioning. The Authority identified a ‘demand’ for a higher standard of accommodation – by surveying people who don’t go to Rottnest and who may never go to Rottnest. Whilst it is valid to attempt to find out why certain people don’t visit it is not valid to take this as sufficient public consultation on such an important matter. The Society is extremely concerned about this proposed development for a number of reasons. The concerns we have seem to conform remarkably to those of many members of the public – young and old. Our concerns are both environmental and social. We are seriously concerned that this development will bring about an increase in the number of bus and other vehicular movements between Thomsons Bay and the hotel, which will impact negatively on the highly valued ‘Rottnest experience’. Just getting 100-150 or so extra visitors, plus many staff, to the hotel and 100-150 back to the jetty every day is significant to say nothing of servicing, cleaning and delivery vehicles . We also believe that the kind of people attracted to a hotel of this standard are might bring pressure for other services and businesses which are likely to cause a significant change to the laid-back nature of the island. The Society is now considering what action might be available to us, given our expectation (raised by the Minister’s media release and the ongoing discussions with the CEO) that there would be a public comment period is apparently not going to be met. Email your thoughts to us at general@rottnestsociety.org.au |
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Rottnest Island Draft Marine Management Strategy (17th April 2006) The Rottnest Island Draft Marine Management Strategy was launched on 17th April, 2006 and will be open for public comment for three months.
The Rottnest Society has not been part of the process of drafting this strategy. Now that it is available, committee members are reading it thoroughly and debating its merits, and will decide whether we wish to make a submission from the Society or leave it to individual members to make their own submissions. The aim of the Society is always to find a balance between conservation and recreation needs. As many members of the public will be aware there is considerable disagreement between conservation groups and recreational fishing groups about both the need for the proposed no-take zones, and the process by which the proposed zones were arrived at. The draft strategy is available on the Rottnest Island Authority's website at: http://www.rottnestisland.com/en/Marine+Management+Strategy/default.htm For an indication of where Recfishwest stands on this matter their 2002 submission to the draft Rottnest Island Management Plan 2002-2007 is available at http://www.recfishwest.org.au/Submissions.htm and provides comment on proposals contained in that document. |
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Two new accommodation developments for Rottnest...(Nov 2005) Recently Tourism Minister Mark McGowan announced that there would be two new developments on Rottnest. The biggest of these would be a 100-plus room 3-4 star development at Mt Herschell - various press reports have reported the Minister talking variously of 120 and 140 rooms. The other would be an eco-friendly luxury tent development (with 40 tents) at South Thomsons. The Rottnest Society, like many members of the Western Australian community, has serious concerns about each of these developments and we will do our best to articulate our concerns in these pages over coming months as more information is available. See more comment from us. Wadjemup Lighthouse Tours...at the same time the Minister formally announced that tours of Wadjemup Lighthouse run by the Rottnest Island Authority were now operating. The above picture of the lighthouse lens was taken on one of the very first tours - and it is certainly worth making the climb up to the top for the best views on the island. The tour is fascinating. |
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