PO Box 585, Sale, Vic 850 [email protected] www.saleheritagecruises.com.au SUBMISSION TO THE PARLIAMENT OF VICTORIA ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE INQUIRY INTO HERITAGE TOURISM AND ECOTOURISM IN VICTORIA BY PORT SALE HERITAGE CRUISES 1 The Port of Sale Heritage Cruises Pty Ltd was established in May 2013 following the purchase of EMV Rubeena MB7 by the Lewis Family. The boat had operated in Lake Tyers since 1957 after arriving in Lakes Entrance on the 4th April 1912 we are advised that the boat is the longest continuous registered boat and in survey boat on the Victorian register. For many years in various capacities Alan Lewis1 has been involved in the promotion of the Port of Sale and the Swing Bridge as sites national engineering heritage importance and Sale as the central point for the both the Gunnaikurnai who occupied the area for some 10,000 generations prior to European settlement and the first settlers of Gippsland. The electric powered Rubeena provided that opportunity. 2 A business plan was prepared a copy of which is attached that outlines the vision of the business, our aspirations , marketing strategy, budgets and the key heritage, environmental and sustainable aspects of the business 3 The key issues relating to the establishment of the business, the regulatory environment, lack of infrastructure have impacted on establishment cost and income particularly with respect to charters. Completion of works on boat as a requirement for maintaining survey at the Government Boat Yard Paynesville impact of availability of skilled shipwrights Cost associated with the achievement of a coxswain certificate, the availability of courses (Portland and Adelaide) and the regulatory environment that requires a standard of qualification that does not recognise the difference between inland and offshore waters, that an associated work boat that will be used only for recovery purposes requires a three week coxswain aaaa course as we refer to the boat in our operating procedures manual developed as a precursor to achieving TQUAL certification. Whilst the Wellington Shire have been extremely supportive of the venture the lack of fundamental infrastructure to Jetty such as water and power, cost associated with the extension of the existing floating jetty (an essential element as a consequence of the significant rise and fall associated with flood events) and no infrastructure at the Swing Bridge for passengers to embark are leading to a significant increase in implementation cost particularly when the asset will be owned by the Shire Date of advertising liquor license has to be extended as a home office where we take booking and store alcohol all be it is lesser quantities than already on site will mean that we will not have a license till January 4 Currently we have advertised in the Gippsland Times, Gippslander, on Radio, have printed 5000 brochures, souvenir tickets and developed a web site www.saleheritagecruises.com.au and a Facebook page www.facebook.com/portofsaleheritagecruises. Since commencement on the last weekend in September we have run a 10am and 2pm cruise daily approximately 400 customers have completed trip and feedback is positive 1 Alan Lewis was City Engineer City of Sale 1968‐1985, Lewis McNaughton Pty Ltd Professional Project Managers 1985 – current, Founding Chair Destination Gippsland 2004‐2006, Project Managers for Bataluk Cultural Trail, River Heritage and Wetlands Trail, Gippsland Plains Rail Trail, Completed feasibility studies on behalf of Sale Rotary and other community groups with respect to establishing a cruise boat business 5 With Respect to the Specific terms of Reference we advise as follows (1) It is the considered view of the Directors of Port of Sale Heritage Cruises that the Wellington Shire is not recognised as a centre of heritage importance to the development of Victoria as is other regions such as Ballarat and Bendigo. This region was vital to the development of Gippsland i.e. the north south transport link Port Albert-Sale-Omeo the oldest road in Gippsland and the key transport link for the first three decades servicing the Walhalla and Crooked River gold fields the Latrobe wharf becoming a key entry port in the late 1850’s when the entry of shipping into the Gippsland Lakes commenced. In pre European times the connection of the high Country via the Macalister, Thomson and Latrobe rivers and overland to Port Albert features in dreamtime creation story of the Gunnaikurnai. The floodplains adjoining Sale are a designated RAMSAR wetlands (Sale Common to Heart Morass) which compliments the heritage aspects of our tour The business model for the Port of Sale Heritage Cruises is based on lifting the profile of the heritage of the region so we can capture 20% of the visitors to Sale who are looking for attractions and activities a recent survey indicated that 21% of tourist to Wellington visited heritage sites and 34% National Parks (2) The Port of Sale Heritage Cruises has developed the business in to ensure that TQUAL accreditation can be achieved. We believe that as tourism operators we must offer a product that will ensure repeat business, growth by word of mouth promotion and extend the stay of visitors to the Wellington Shire increasing yield. (3) We see great potential to establish relationships with other heritage attractions in central Gippsland that are linked through historic relationships such as Port Albert, Walhalla, Sale, and the staging villages of Glengarry, Toongabbie, Cowwarr and Heyfield ( Gippsland Plains Rail Trail). (4) In my other business Lewis McNaughton Pty Ltd we have been responsible for preparation of initial assessment, development of concept, facilitation of approval process, preparation of documentation and implementation including the establishment of community based incorporated body to manage the trail or part thereof as Project Managers for the “River Heritage and Wetlands Trail”, “The Grand Strzelecki Track”, “Bataluk Cultural Trail” and the “Gippsland Plains Rail Trail”. From that experience particular with the construction of new trails in environmentally sensitive areas such as the Sale Common and the Billys Creek Valley the Trail can be closed for long periods due to flooding (Sale Common) or become impassable due to landslides high stream flows (Billys Creek) this creates an issue with respect to users requesting Trail upgrades that would impact on the very experience of the these Trails that are Class 4 classification (5) Our experience would indicate that there is a lack of essential infrastructure associated with relatively new facilities such as the Port of Sale where there are no services (water, electricity) to the public wharf this has added a startup expense on facility designed for the use now contemplated. Alan Lewis PORT OF SALE HERITAGE CRUISES MARKETING AND BUSINESS PLAN Prepared By Alan Lewis & Rachel Lewis Lewis McNaughton Pty Ltd Wayne Brydges Port of Sale Heritage Cruises Page 2 of 2 1 Background Port of Sale Heritage Cruises Pty Ltd has been established by Alan Lewis, Rachel Lewis and Wayne Brydges to purchase the EMV Rubeena an open launch carvel hull boat registered for 42 passengers and fitted with an electric motor. The Rubeena was built in Balmain in 1912 and transported to Lake Entrance 1913 has being in continuous survey as a cruise boat on the Gippsland Lakes. This business and marketing plan has been developed to demonstrate the underlying objectives of the directors, review and define potential markets and to demonstrate project feasibility 2 Port of Sale Heritage Cruises the Concept The Rubeena will be the utilised to conduct a regular boat trip from the historic Port of Sale to the Swing Bridge both sites being recognised by the Institution of Engineers Australia, Swing Bridge as an Engineering National Landmark and the Port of Sale by an Engineering Heritage Marker. The connecting waterways of some 5km namely the Sale Canal, Thomson and Latrobe Rivers were the key elements of early water transport in Gippsland. Prior to European Settlement the Gunnaikurnai people and their ancestors occupied Gippsland for many hundreds of generations over many thousands of years, in 1839 prior to European settlement an estimated 3,000 Kurnai lived in Gippsland. The site of the current City of Sale was known as “Wayput” meaning the centre of the Gunnaikurnai nation. The area is prominent in the Gunaikurnai creation story “Borun the Pelican and Tuk the Musk Duck” Who were their dreamtime ancestors as legend tells it, “the first Gunaikurnai came down from the mountains in the northwest carrying the canoe on his head. He was Borun the Pelican. Borun crossed the Tribal River by what is now known as Sale and he walked on alone to Tarra Warackel (Port Albert) in the west. As he walked he heard a tapping sound and could not identify it. When he reached the deep water of the inlets, Borun put down his canoe and much to his surprise there was a woman in it. She was Tuck the Musk Duck. Borun was very happy to see her and she became his wife and Mother of us all, the Gunaikurnai people”1 1 The Creation Sign of the Bataluk Cultural Trail Located at McIntosh Drive car park adjacent to Lake Guthridge a sculpture is currently been installed at the Swing Bridge based around this legend 20/11/2013 4:36 PM Page 3 of 3 To the Omeo natives the Gunnaikurnai were known as the “Warrigals” or wild blacks because of their warlike nature. Conflicts2 between early settlers and natives were common. As the Gunnaikurnai resisted settlement reprisals were brutal and many massacres occurred particularly in the area of Wellington Shire3. The first record of European involvement was the exploration of Angus McMillan who arrived at the confluence of the Thomson and Latrobe Rivers on the 24th January 1840 McMillan’s when the Omeo natives’ guide search for suitable tree with bark for shaping into a canoe was unsuccessful and unable to find a suitable tree McMillan abandons the journey to find a suitable route to the coast and goes back to his base camp at Ensay4.