NSW National Parks:
Commercial use replaces conservation as objective
by Peter Mac The NSW Government is to introduce legislation which will directly threaten the natural and historic values of the State's national parks. The legislation, which carries the imprimatur of State Minister for the Environment Bob Debus, would introduce the following changes: * existing and new state recreation areas would be renamed State Conservation Reserves, and would be available for prospecting (mining of known mineral reserves is already allowed); * structures and clearings in National Parks, including in wilderness areas, would be available as venues for sporting activities, conferences and storage, as well as for social activities, including parties and theatre; * owners (and presumably lessees) of land surrounded by National Parks would be entitled to construct access roads through the Parks to their property; * commercial operation of tours through National Parks would be allowed; * conservationists would lose their current rights to places on the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) Advisory Council and committees. Mining in parks Allowing both prospecting and mining in State recreation areas would open the door even wider than at present for inappropriate industrial activity, with all the implications for damage from clearance, introduction of heavy machinery, excavation and subsidence, and runoff from tailings and spoil — not to mention visual and aural pollution. The Debus submission declares that the conversion of the State Recreation Areas would allow for "the creation of national parks in waiting, land that can be effectively managed to conserve natural heritage values while prospectivity issues are being finalised" — after which, presumably, it's open slather for the mine owners, and to hell with the natural values! The Minister and others have tried to downplay the significance of the legislation. However, the reality is that it would open the gate for widespread damage to the natural values of our unique national parks by removing restrictions on new road construction, as well as by facilitating mining and other commercial activities in the Parks. The proposal to allow certain social activities in the Parks may seem innocuous at first sight. For example, the Government has talked about facilitating sporting activities or social functions such as weddings. However, there is, in fact, nothing in the current legislation to prevent the odd game of touch football, or even a wedding, in a wilderness setting. Commercial activities The Government's proposals, on the other hand, are aimed at introducing these activities on a commercial scale — and there's the rub. Under the proposed legislation the sporting activities could include commercial football matches; and social functions could include New Year's eve gatherings or other mass activities, all of which would inevitably pollute and destroy natural values. While not perfect, the current legislation is specifically aimed at preserving the natural values of National Parks. Aspects of the new legislation which would weaken these provisions have been condemned by the Executive Officer of the National Parks Association, Noel Plumb. Mr Plumb said that increasing commercialisation and access would have negative consequences for the State's national parks, and that "wilderness is about self-reliant experiences. Creating commercial rights is totally out of line with that philosophical approach, and this is a mistake." The director of the Humane Society International, Mr Michael Kennedy, condemned the proposed changes as being about money, not nature conservation. Seemingly quite independently, the NPWS has also proposed significant changes to the current legislation. Under their proposals, heavy fines would be introduced for illegal activities such as unauthorised logging, clearing of land for unauthorised roads, the killing of native species in the park or the vandalism of visitor facilities. While the NPWS proposals are welcome, they do not address the thorny issue of mining in the Parks, which now constitutes the greatest area of hazard for their natural values. Restrictions lifted The NPWS-proposed restrictions on clearance of land for roads in Recreation Areas would in any case be overruled by the proposed Debus legislation. The legislative protection currently provided to areas of high natural values against unauthorised road clearance would be removed by the new legislation, which would actually legitimise such construction. Mr Debus has defended the Government's proposed new legislation by reference to the Government's good intentions, and cited his recent rejection of an application to build a number of cabins in the Warrambungles National Park. Unfortunately, as Mr Debus well knows, the future wellbeing of significant natural areas rests not just on the intentions of the Government (which can change from good to bad overnight), but on the worth of the relevant legislation. A clear indication of the Government's approach to national parks has already been given, in the case of the Quarantine Station site at Sydney's North Head, a site of great historic and natural significance, which is now run by the NPWS. A new Conservation Plan for the Station, which is intended to define acceptable treatment of the site by the Government in terms of its cultural significance, is currently being written. However, last Thursday ABC News broadcast an on-site interview with the Minister and the representative of the prospective lessee of the North Head Quarantine Station, Mawland Hotel Management, in which they proceeded to pre-empt the findings of the Conservation Plan by announcing the new intensive use of the site as an upmarket hotel and restaurant complex run by Mawlands. Revealing a remarkable degree of arrogance, ignorance and insensitivity, Moreland's man stomped around the site announcing his big schemes for its commercial exploitation. "This place has been in a time warp for the last one hundred and fifty years!", he declared bombastically. An obviously ill-at-ease Bob Debus muttered defensively that it was simply too expensive to maintain the Station with the current NPWS approach to its use. In fact however, however, the site is already accessible to the public for guided tours, overnight stays and conferences. The rates for these activities are very cheap, but the site nevertheless generates considerable income because of its great popularity for visitors. Management of the site by the NPWS is carefully controlled, informative and sensitive, and is intended to preserve its historic significance. Resort for rich The new lease, on the other hand, would in effect result in transformation of the site to another resort for the rich. Public access to the most important areas of the place would be limited by the ability to pay. The new proposals for the Station apparently include redevelopment of the Wharf area buildings for a fashionable restaurant and other purposes, construction of new buildings and adaptation of the main historic buildings as hotel accommodation. Extensive new services would be installed and the historic interiors of the buildings would be changed to accommodate ensuites and other facilities. The occasional token "sample" room would be preserved as a concession to the significance of the place. Representatives of the community group Friends of the Quarantine Station, and others, have already expressed their outrage at the proposals. If this is the degree of good intention that the Minister is offering in the changes to the National Parks legislation, then god help the National Parks of NSW.