Submission for Task Force on Future Tourist Developments in Nsw National Parks

SUBMISSION FOR TASK FORCE ON FUTURE TOURIST DEVELOPMENTS IN NSW NATIONAL PARKS

To: The Taskforce on Tourism and National Parks

I make the following submission to the Taskforce in support of my opinion that National Parks should not be for sale in whole or in part and should not be subject to resort development by those commercial interests seeking profit rather than preservation of our natural areas.

I do not have any particular expertise in the fields of ecology or the natural sciences, however, I do have a lifetime of experience spent walking in national parks throughout Australia and the rest of the world and I have been a keen observer of people throughout my professional and personal life. I therefore believe that in order to enjoy our State’s natural areas most people’s needs can be satisfied by developing amenities and communities outside National Parks and further enhancing facilities existing in State Forests, private lands and other public lands.

Some of my reasons for my submission are as follows:-

1. In this increasingly noisy and stressful world many people seek solitude and peace to calm themselves and revive their spirit in areas of natural beauty undisturbed by large numbers of tourists, buildings and roads that assault the senses rather than soothe them.

2. I do support expanding the numbers of visitors to National Parks, as I believe that it is by introducing people to these places of natural beauty that we can best educate and encourage people to preserve them. I have visited many areas where development is limited to locations outside National Parks and expansion should be allowed to continue in this way as local communities can benefit with employment and they can attract appropriate commercial enterprises, and therefore, they would have a vested interest in preserving the Parks.

3. Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory and several of the Tasmanian National Parks are examples of Parks where there is limited development and where there is access to designated parts of an enormous area of natural beauty. There are opportunities for four-wheel driving and car camping and more up- market accommodation is available in nearby communities. The bushwalkers that venture into these remote places are self sufficient and can do limited harm to the delicate environments beyond walking on the tracks.

4. It has been my experience when visiting National Parks both in Australia and overseas that people do not want or need to venture deep into the wilderness to have an enjoyable and uplifting experience. Few people seek the solitude that serious bushwalkers find deep within National Parks. Most people prefer to be closer to amenities such as shopping, restaurants and other tourists to share their experience. These needs can best be provided in local communities outside National Parks giving people suitable opportunities to explore and enjoy the natural beauties on the fringes of the National Parks and in limited areas within them. Examples in New South Wales include Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, the villages of the New England area and Coonamble, which remains viable due to its proximity to the Warrambungles National Park. The latter is an example of a successful symbiotic relationship between a service community and a National Park as other towns in the general area such as Gilgandra and Wellington have all but died.

5. My experience also is that, when the opportunities exist to explore National Parks on foot, few people choose to venture far from the nearest point of entry. There is room for a limited number of commercial operators to lead people into Parks without damaging them and this requires no infrastructure within the Parks.

6. It is important that governments manage Parks well so that they can be a source of clean air and water, as well as being a refuge for fauna (including man) and a repository of flora.

In conclusion, there is no need to sell sections of our precious Parks to commercial interests, rather, Government investment in well managed Parks can assist local communities to provide goods and services which then encourages further private investment and the overall effect is to retain our carbon sinks which assist in the amelioration of the effects of global warming.

Thank you for the opportunity to make this submission.

Maureen Carter 10/110 Picnic Point Road Picnic Point 2213 Telephone: 9773 4637 Email: [email protected]