Appeal tribunal reverses council decision to block luxury camp on Halls Island on Lake Malbena in Walls of Jerusalem national park

This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

A contentious private tourism development with helicopter access in Tasmanian world heritage wilderness is a step closer to going ahead after a planning tribunal reversed a council decision to block it.

The luxury camp proposal for remote Halls Island on Lake Malbena in the Walls of Jerusalem national park was approved by the federal and state governments but rejected by the Central Highlands council in February.

On Monday, the state’s resource management and planning appeal tribunal upheld an appeal against the council decision by ecotourism business Wild Drake, backed by the state government.

Tasmanian council blocks Halls Island tourism project in world heritage area Read more

The proposal involves four demountable huts being built on Halls Island, which would be visited by up to 240 helicopter flights per year. The developers say it would cater for up to six visitors at a time interested in bushwalking, kayaking and learning about the area’s cultural history.

Environment groups had said it was an important test case in the state’s push for more commercial tourism in national parks and the vast Tasmanian wilderness world heritage area, which covers about one-fifth of the island.

The Tasmanian environment minister, Peter Gutwein, said the decision endorsed the government’s program calling for expressions of interest for private developments in parks and reserves.

Wild Drake director Daniel Hackett said scientific assessments had shown the project could be delivered without significant impacts on the environment or other national park users. He said there would be no commercial operations for 240 days a year and no helicopter use on at least 305 days a year.

“We look forward to quickly moving on with the project and delivering a small-scale, high-value project that protects and celebrates an amazing Tasmanian story: the birthplace of the Walls of Jerusalem national park,” he said in a statement.

The Wilderness Society and Tasmanian National Parks Association said they were disappointed the tribunal found it was not necessary to assess the proposal against the state’s management plan for the world heritage area, and had not assessed the impact the development would have on wilderness.

Tom Allen, the Wilderness Society’s state campaign manager, said the tribunal had taken a narrow interpretation of planning laws not endorsed the state government’s policy of opening public land to private development.

But he said the Lake Malbena case could be Tasmanians’ last chance to have a say on development plans in national parks or reserves as the government planned to change the planning scheme to allow those proposals to bypass local councils. “That is as scary as it is undemocratic,” Allen said.

He said environment groups would consider whether to appeal the decision to the supreme court.

Both the federal government and the council rejected expert advice in making their respective decisions to approve and block the development.

The council blocked the development, voting six votes to three at a public meeting in February, despite receiving advice from planners that it be approved.

Federally, a environment department assistant secretary acting on behalf of the then environment minister, Melissa Price, last year found the camp was not a threat to matters of national environmental significance despite three expert bodies advising against the development going ahead as proposed.

The National Parks and Wildlife Advisory Council, a state body, expressed concern about opening the world heritage area up to private commercial development with permanent structures and potentially frequent helicopter flights.

The Australian Heritage Council found the development would have considerable impact on world heritage values and warned the buildings, helipad and tracks did not conform to zoning rules. The Tasmanian Aboriginal Heritage Council said the proposed camp was near a recently discovered rare heritage site.

Hackett said the tribunal had confirmed the project was compliant with local planning scheme provisions. “We are proud of what we have achieved, designing a small-scale, sensitive proposal that has passed the highest levels of scientific scrutiny ever applied to an Australia tourism project,” he said.

Allen said: “We support nature tourism wholeheartedly, but prospective tourism operators should buy their own land instead of pinching public land, secretly agreeing to lease and licence agreements and then effectively privatising public lands at the expense of public users.”

The council has 14 days to submit proposed conditions for the development to the tribunal.