Mixed response to coastal tourism plans
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Tuesday, 3 July, 2001 - 22:00
LESS than two hours north of Perth is a stretch of coast that’s on the verge of a major tourism redevelopment.
Accessible only by four-wheel drive, the long, white beaches and clear blue waters have remained virtually untouched for generations. The area is a well-kept secret for the families that have holidayed at the squatters’ shacks dotted along the coast.
But the shacks are destined to disappear under bulldozers in the next couple of years, making room for new tourist accommodation developments.
And a new coast road between Lancelin and Cervantes, due for completion in 2002, will make it a quicker and easier trip from Perth.
This is good news for small businesses in towns like Jurien and Cervantes, which stand to benefit from the predicted influx of tourists and their spending money.
The Department of Conservation and Land Management recently released a master plan for the land around Wedge Island and Grey, south of Cervantes, to provide a framework to guide future planning, development and management of recreation and tourism.
CALM intends to call for expressions of interest from developers within a 12-month timeframe, according to CALM project manager, shack management program, Steve Meyerkort.
“There’s great potential there. At the moment there are only a few people who know about it,” Mr Meyerkort said.
But not everyone in the area is excited about the development potential and several business owners have expressed concern about how new development will affect their viability.
“In Lancelin they expressed some concern during the master plan about business competition,” Mr Meyerkort said. “But the master plan endeavours to provide alter-native accommodation … there will be such a huge volume of traffic going through, there might not be enough accommodation at times.”
Cervantes Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary Tony Lambert has a very different take on future developments at Wedge and Grey.
“The problem with CALM is they’ve come in with grandiose ideas of a large building with a café in a national park without any consultation with tourism groups,’ Mr Lambert said.
“The main issue is they’ve been so insensitive to the negative impact of this plan. This will send some people to the wall.”
Mr Lambert, who also runs the Pinnacles Beach Backpackers in Cervantes, is concerned the tour buses wouldn’t bother visiting Cervantes if there is retail development at Wedge Island and Grey.
“We’d lose that business overnight and we’ve verified that with the tour buses,” he said.
The Western Australian Tourism Commission is currently working with CALM on a pre-feasibility study of the area, addressing the issues of environmental consider-ations and income generation.
Accessible only by four-wheel drive, the long, white beaches and clear blue waters have remained virtually untouched for generations. The area is a well-kept secret for the families that have holidayed at the squatters’ shacks dotted along the coast.
But the shacks are destined to disappear under bulldozers in the next couple of years, making room for new tourist accommodation developments.
And a new coast road between Lancelin and Cervantes, due for completion in 2002, will make it a quicker and easier trip from Perth.
This is good news for small businesses in towns like Jurien and Cervantes, which stand to benefit from the predicted influx of tourists and their spending money.
The Department of Conservation and Land Management recently released a master plan for the land around Wedge Island and Grey, south of Cervantes, to provide a framework to guide future planning, development and management of recreation and tourism.
CALM intends to call for expressions of interest from developers within a 12-month timeframe, according to CALM project manager, shack management program, Steve Meyerkort.
“There’s great potential there. At the moment there are only a few people who know about it,” Mr Meyerkort said.
But not everyone in the area is excited about the development potential and several business owners have expressed concern about how new development will affect their viability.
“In Lancelin they expressed some concern during the master plan about business competition,” Mr Meyerkort said. “But the master plan endeavours to provide alter-native accommodation … there will be such a huge volume of traffic going through, there might not be enough accommodation at times.”
Cervantes Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary Tony Lambert has a very different take on future developments at Wedge and Grey.
“The problem with CALM is they’ve come in with grandiose ideas of a large building with a café in a national park without any consultation with tourism groups,’ Mr Lambert said.
“The main issue is they’ve been so insensitive to the negative impact of this plan. This will send some people to the wall.”
Mr Lambert, who also runs the Pinnacles Beach Backpackers in Cervantes, is concerned the tour buses wouldn’t bother visiting Cervantes if there is retail development at Wedge Island and Grey.
“We’d lose that business overnight and we’ve verified that with the tour buses,” he said.
The Western Australian Tourism Commission is currently working with CALM on a pre-feasibility study of the area, addressing the issues of environmental consider-ations and income generation.