TASAC Minutes 17 June 2015 Minutes of the Tourist Attraction Signposting Assessment Committee Hunter Region meeting Wednesday 17 June 2015 Taree Visitor Information Centre, 21 Manning River Drive, Taree North TASAC Members David Douglas Regional Coordinator TASAC and Drive, Destination NSW Phil Oliver Guidance and Delineation Manager, Roads and Maritimes Services Maria Zannetides TASAC Secretariat Also present Donna Hudson Tourism, Events and Communications, Greater Taree City Council Richard Wheatley Traffic Engineer, Greater Taree City Council Ken Saxby Manager Network & Safety Services, RMS Hunter Region Jamie Smoother Network and Safety Officer, RMS Hunter Region Belinda Novicky Executive Officer, North Coast Destination Network Gordon Mead Manager, Caravilla Motel Peter Calabria Owner, Artisans on the Hill Ben Stevenson ETC / Small Biz Connect Apologies Tom Urban Zone Manager North Coast, Destination NSW Ron Posselt General Manager, Greater Taree City Council AGENDA ITEMS 1. DELEGATIONS / PRESENTATIONS & REGIONAL SIGNPOSTING ISSUES 1.1 Taree Signposting Issues (a) Greater Taree Signposting policies Richard and Donna informed the meeting that Council is in the process of reviewing its signposting policies, which were introduced in 2003. Council’s tourist signposting policies generally reflect the standards in the NSW Tourist Signposting Manual. (b) Tourist Drives 8, 6 and 2 Greater Taree Council’s tourist drives are all shared with other Councils as follows: Tourist Drive 8 (shared by Greater Taree and Port Macquarie Hastings Councils) Tourist Drive 6 (shared by Greater Taree and Great Lakes Councils) Tourist Drive 2 (shared by Greater Taree, Great Lakes and Gloucester Councils) Richard and Donna provided the following updates: (a) Improvements to Tourist Drive 8: Two bridges on the drive have been replaced and are no longer subject to weight limits. Parts of the drive are still narrow and there is an unsealed portion of about 28 km beyond Wingham. However, remedial works have been completed to Final 26 June 2015 1 of 10 TASAC Minutes 17 June 2015 stabilise areas that were previously affected by land slippage. A sign past Wingham, which was removed due to road works, will be reinstated to warm motorists that the remainder of the drive is not suitable for oversize vehicles such as caravans. There are opportunities near the sign’s intended location for oversize vehicles to turn around. (b) Recent signage audits: Council has reviewed the signage along Tourist Drives 8 and 6 in its area and confirmed that some signs need to be redone. Some of these are relatively minor works that are achievable under current budgets whereas other works require additional funding to be allocated. There is a need to improve signage on Tourist Drive 8 through Wingham and Donna has some ideas about how this might be done. Signage along Tourist Drive 2 will be reviewed when current road works along it have been completed. (c) Greater Taree is working with Port Macquarie-Hastings Council to improve promotional material for Tourist Drive 8. (d) It is estimated that about 90% of visitors who take Tourist Drive 8 from Taree travel to Ellenborough Falls then return to Taree, rather than following the tourist drive to its northern end. Ellenborough Falls is 54 km from the Pacific Motorway at Taree. The road before the falls is unsealed for about 15 km. (e) The possibility of changing the route of Tourist Drive 2 so that it extends north from Burrell Creek via Killawarra to Wingham then south to Tinonee (instead of the current situation where it proceeds east from Burrell Creek to Tinonee) was discussed. The altered route is sealed, would increase the length of the drive by about 13 km, is considered to be more scenic and has a number of features of interest to visitors including a lookout, an orchid nursery and a low level bridge. The Committee members made the following responses: i. As a first step it will be necessary for the Councils that share Tourist Drive 2 (Greater Taree, Great Lakes and Gloucester) to determine that they support the suggested alteration of its route. The Councils would also need to agree to meet the costs associated with: o Amending signage along the route. o Maintaining the signs in perpetuity; and o Preparation and ongoing maintenance of promotional material for the amended drive. Subsequently, the three Councils would need to make a submission to TASAC about the proposed alteration, indicating a timeframe for upgrading signage along the entire route, including the changed portion, and the preparation of promotional material. ii. A “totem pole” of white on green, white on brown and white on blue signs on a Council road in Wingham features considerably more information than can be safely read by passing motorists and should be rationalised. iii. Belinda was asked to follow up her query about the lack of directional signage to Wingham on Bucketts Way with the relevant Council as it is a Council road. iv. Phil and David drove the entirety of Tourist Drive 6 from south to north the day prior to the meeting and made the following observations: o The condition and position of signs along the drive is generally poor. o There is a need for advance signs for national parks accessed from the drive. o Very few route markers were observed. Final 26 June 2015 2 of 10 TASAC Minutes 17 June 2015 o A reassurance sign at the southern end is badly affected by graffiti. o There is no road signage in connection with the drive for 40 km after the southern reassurance sign. o A large portion of the tourist drive passes through bushland and it is a long way before any water can been seen. o It is understood that Great Lakes Council has carried out an audit of signage along its portion of the drive but TASAC has not been advised of the outcomes. o Great Lakes Council advised the Secretariat that, while it does not promote its drives with specific references to their tourist drive numbers, they are promoted in its guides and other material. However, no response has been received to a request for copies of the material. o As the tourist drive generally follows a road named “Lakes Way”, the need for it to continue to be recognised as a numbered tourist drive is questionable. o The portion of the tourist drive from Forster to Tuncurry is a State road. v. If signage along a numbered tourist drive is not adequate for motorists to safely follow the drive, then RMS needs to consider removing signs for the drive from State roads. Actions: Donna to provide further advice to TASAC regarding upgrades to signage and promotional material for all Council’s tourist drives by 12 August 2015. In particular, Donna undertook to continue her discussions with Great Lakes Council about Tourist Drive 6 and provide an update about the future of this drive in the same time frame. 1.2 Artisans on the Hill, Mondrook Peter Calabria outlined the nature of his business at Mondrook west of Taree. Artisans on the Hill is open from Thursday to Monday from 10 am to 5 pm. It displays work by local, national and international artisans that is produced using a variety of materials and methods, e.g. wood turning, glass slumping and fusing and silk painting. There are craft making demonstrations and a variety of craft workshops for booked guests. The business also operates as a B&B and coffee lounge. The requirements of TASAC’s Craft Based Attractions and Galleries signposting categories were discussed. Attractions that are eligible for tourist signposting must be able to demonstrate that they provide unbooked visitors with a tourism experience that is supported by appropriate written or audio visual interpretive material at all times during their opening hours. Booked workshops, coffee lounge, accommodation and retail elements of businesses are not be relevant to eligibility for tourist signposting. It was noted that the business is about 12 km from the Pacific Motorway. RMS advised that the relevant intersection is grade separated (i.e. there is an exit ramp). Therefore, even if eligibility for tourist signposting could be established, the business would not be eligible for signage on the motorway carriageway as this is only available to attractions that are open daily and which receive a minimum of 150,000 visitors per annum and the intersection is already at capacity in terms of signage. 1.3 Muswellbrook Signposting Issues Casey Gilbey informed Maria before the meeting that Muswellbrook Shire Council is preparing a response to TASAC’s letter about the future of unauthorised tourist signs on the Golden Highway for “Upper Hunter Wineries” and “Winery Information”. The matter will be listed for discussion at the July meeting. Final 26 June 2015 3 of 10 TASAC Minutes 17 June 2015 1.4 Members’ report on site inspections David and Phil’s site inspections the day prior to the meeting primarily related to Tourist Drives 6 and 8 and their observations are recorded at item 1.1 above. 2. NEW TOURIST SIGNPOSTING APPLICATIONS 2.1 Hollydene Estate Wines, Jerrys Plains Hollydene Estate Wines currently has unauthorised tourist signs on and from the Golden Highway and the application has been submitted at TASAC’s request to determine the winery’s eligibility for tourist signposting. The business, which is open daily from 10 am to 4 pm, comprises a cellar door, wine tasting room, café/restaurant, bar, function centre, picnic areas, a children’s play area and it also conducts commercial alpaca, Angus cattle and sheep breeding operations. Interpretive information includes 190 uncaptioned slides about viticulture and wine making that are shown in a continuous loop on a large screen above the cellar door counter and books and journals on viticulture and wine-making, including volumes on the history of the Hunter Valley and the vineyards that make up the wines under the Hollydene labels.