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If you go to the Western Lakes today you are in for a big surprise. Not sure how many people are aware of what has actually happened at Lake Malbena in the Western Lakes of Tasmania. The entire island is leased exclusively and the public are shut out. The Lessee Daniel Hackett went from having a 40m2 licence for the old hut on the island in 2016 to a lease of just under 100,000 m2 in 2018 and yet they say their planned luxury helicopter tourist development occupies less than 1% of the island. This is an incredible island in the Walls of Jerusalem and it is now privatised. Please write to the Minister, Premier Will Hodgman and ask him why the public are excluded and what they are going to do when anglers and bushwalkers go there like have been doing for decades.
How did this happen and why did this happen?
And guess who is wanting to start this development on Lake Malbena ? Look no further than someone deeply involved in fly fishing and guiding.
In this politically correct society which wants to include all, it wont be long before we have to have roads into wilderness areas so that they ones whom are too infirm to hike in can access these areas. Then once the roads are there the will be a requirement to install fishing platforms so that mobility impaired can use them. Next phase will be public toilets, gender neutral, so that the once pristine are is not contaminated.
Finally the roads will need to be sealed so that the average person in a 2wd can access the areas and not be soley for the 4wd brigade. Only then will rubbish collection be required weekly so as to keep the areas pristine.
All in the name of being inclusive and not disadvantaging any group or person.What is particularly disappointing is the fact that the proposal is only just now filtering down to the club levels for comments. I can’t say there has been any real chance to put in submissions for or against at any time in the recent past, at least not anything well advertised. It seems that it has now made it all the way upstream to the bureaucrats in Canberra. There has been quite a lot of noise made locally in an attempt to gain a pause in proceedings. It remains to be seen whether that chance for discussion will be forthcoming.
I understand the concept of commercially sensitive information, but I suspect its importance has been conveniently overstated in circumstances which really do impact on the diminishing wilderness areas left in our lives. We have already seen far too much development within the boundaries of our National Parks. Do we really want to look like Yellowstone? I think not.
Wilderness needs to remain just that, for there is no reverse gear to engage…. JimmyWe have separate topics here – any chance the mods can give the Brumbies in the Snowies a new thread?
Q: why can’t wilderness just be sacred?
A: because no one knows what it’s for.
A: the cool kids don’t know where it is.
A: it’s harder to hide old mattresses in the cities.
A: there’s no usb outlets in the wilderness.
A: people cannot act on issues without a screen to their face and their ass firmly stuck to their chair.
A: because it’s not sponsored by hungry jacks and jim beam.
A: sacred is reserved for real life things… like religions. perhaps cows.
A: wilderness is not on after ‘who wants to marry my kitchen idol in the dark?’
A: it’s not the beach, dude.
A: it’s worth real money. and absolutely none of it is yours.“let them eat cack”,
shawnWhat a shame!
I have no issues wth people being guided in the wilderness – small numbers walking in, using tents & existing huts, conform to the existing values…
The great irony is that once you develop it – you don’t have wilderness any more.
I just don’t get it!
quote Tocs” post=323119:We have separate topics here – any chance the mods can give the Brumbies in the Snowies a new thread?Will try. Hopefully nothing will get lost but no guarantees. Apologies in advance if things go awry.
quote mitch aka 2 fish” post=323120:Q: why can’t wilderness just be sacred?A: because no one knows what it’s for.
A: the cool kids don’t know where it is.
A: it’s harder to hide old mattresses in the cities.
A: there’s no usb outlets in the wilderness.
A: people cannot act on issues without a screen to their face and their ass firmly stuck to their chair.
A: because it’s not sponsored by hungry jacks and jim beam.
A: sacred is reserved for real life things… like religions. perhaps cows.
A: wilderness is not on after ‘who wants to marry my kitchen idol in the dark?’
A: it’s not the beach, dude.
A: it’s worth real money. and absolutely none of it is yours.“let them eat cack”,
shawnnice!
Malbena is tricky cos the island has always been a private lease within the WHA. The controversial bit is not so much the upgrade of accommodation but the access by helicopter. This would set a much feared precedent for the western lakes.
Certainly the approval process has fallen well short of expectations but we vote these people in!
I have fond memories of the Malbena hut and I’m sure there were some good stories in Frog Call about time spent there with Greg French… and we all know how he reveres foot access and the wilderness experience.Video clip from the ABC (TAS) news:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/346432735791644/permalink/475116952923221/
This application is also the thin end of the wedge! If this one is successful, there are other enterprises (eg Pumphouse Point, Thousand Lakes Lodge) who are also likely to seek helicopter access to the World Heritage area.
You have to wonder if a much bigger tourism operator is already behind this venture with guests ready and willing to add some wilderness glamping to their stay…
Well, sadly that’s the new order of things, it used to be “chop it down or dig it up”, now we have to add “build it over” to the mantra. I am a disabled fisher, and only have memories of wild areas to sustain me, but I would never use a helicopter to access fishing destinations, it does nothing but wreck the peace and tranquility of fishing of any type. I know nobody has said that helicopters will be used to deliver anglers to spots, but once they are flying over the wilderness, it’s not much of a diversion, is it? I can imagine nothing worse than a wealthy fly fisher being dropped onto every promising run on a river which was once rarely fished, and even dropping in on anglers fishing up a river. It just goes against every thing I believe is sacred, wilderness and the tranquility that goes with it. I do appreciate the platforms that make it easier for disabled anglers, and use them to soak a bait, or fish lures from, but definitely don’t want one built in a wilderness area with a sealed road to it, we have enough access to fishing, leave the wild places alone!
“You have to wonder if a much bigger tourism operator is already behind this venture with guests ready and willing to add some wilderness glamping to their stay…”
Dont want it to turn into a helicopter free for all like NZ has become. Every morning you see the helicopters going out to the remote valleys and then returning in the afternoon. I know why the locals hate it, tramping in for a day and a half to have a helicopter drop a guide and a couple of anglers in front of you. I would hate to see this happen in Tassie and ruin the whole Western Lakes experience.
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