Thursday, May 29, 2014

JUST TOURISM AND GOLD WITH WORLD HERITAGE BAIT


The Gold Coast Bulletin Thursday May 22 2014 carried a grand front-page, full-page image of a green coloured cable car hanging over bushland with hills disappearing into the distance. The headline was bold: SKYWAY TO HEAVEN. For some unknown reason, ‘TO’ was printed on a red square overlaying the photograph, while the other letters were white on the green haze of the illustration. Everything was green but for the ‘TO.’ Was this some subliminal message promoting the concept as a ‘green’ idea? Did the red square represent the past resistance to this proposal that the text below seemed to want to boast about: ‘back on the agenda for the seventh time in 16 years.’ Gosh, was it sixteen years ago that we first fought the cableway?


Inside, on page 4, the article by Andrew Potts declared: MOMENTUM ON SKYRAIL in black ink on off-white newsprint, with a positive, suggestive subtext: ‘Plans for green tourism gather speed.’

NEWS
A skyrail is planned for the Gold Coast Hinterland in a 2020 tourism plan
ANDREW POTTS COUNCIL REPORTER
GOLD COAST BULLETIN
MAY 22, 2014 12:01AM

A RENEWED focus on green tourism in the Hinterland could generate economic Gold for the Coast, with a cable-car attraction set to rise above the tree line by 2020.
The newly released Gold Coast tourism management plan reveals a “skyrail” and “skywalk’’ are both earmarked as a “key tourism infrastructure product” that would deliver “accessible and diverse tourism experiences” in Springbrook and the Hinterland.
A multi-million cableway has been featured in seven major tourism proposals in the past 16 years but despite the failure of all to advance beyond the planning stage, city and tourism leaders are confident that the time is right to make their dreams a reality.
Would you use a sky rail? Tell us in the comments section below
The plan, which has been developed in the past year, provides a tourism road map for the city up to 2020 and the skyrail is listed as being deliverable in the medium to long term.
It is expected to be delivered by private enterprise with a cost of more than $50 million, although no proponent or funding has been named.

Gold Coast Tourism chairman Paul Donovan said the Hinterland had much to offer for tourism.
“A cableway is achievable and a way to put the Gold Coast on the map for its green tourism,” he said.
“The Hinterland is the Gold Coast’s secret gem and we need to explore the possibilities of how we market the area and how we can explore mixing tourism with the environment.
“Whatever is done must be environmentally sensible and sustainable but this report is food for thought for a lot of people and we are excited about the possibilities.”
Mayor Tom Tate backed the concept and it could give the Hinterland a much-needed shot in the arm.
“If someone wants to bring a cableway forward, I say bring it on,” he said.
The tourism plan was created by a collaboration between the Gold Coast City Council, Gold Coast Tourism and the State Government.

It is hoped the Gold Coast will double overnight visitor expenditure to $7 billion a year by 2020.
Nature tourism is worth more than $25 billion to the state economy.
The renewed interest in cable car infrastructure comes just five months after the Bulletin revealed a $220 million proposal to create a beachfront link connecting Southport to Sanctuary Cove via The Spit and South Stradbroke Island.
Previous attempts to create a large-scale cable car attraction have followed the example of the Cairns Skyrail rainforest cableway.
Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens led the push to create a Naturelink attraction in 1998 that did not progress after a lack of support from the Beattie government.
Mr Stevens yesterday said the Newman Government was open to new tourism opportunities.
Springbrook residents have previously been divided over support for a cableway.
Community leaders yesterday were reluctant to discuss future plans for cablecars.
Mudgeeraba councillor Glenn Tozer confirmed several Hinterland-based tourism proposals were under discussion but said there were mixed feelings in the community about what form it should take.
“Capitalising on the features of the beautiful Hinterland to encourage repeat stays from past visitors is a great way to increase our tourism expenditure and economy,” he said.
“I am most interested in exploring options which preserve the Hinterland and world heritage areas in their current form (rather) than invasive infrastructure which may detract from the natural beauty.”


The above is the text that appeared on line. What is interesting is that the two quoted comments made by Councillor Tozer that conclude this text were not published in the paper. The article that was printed finished with ‘. . . mixed feelings in the community about what form it should take.’ Was it the mention of World Heritage that caused problems? The remainder of the text seems to ignore this fact.



Maybe, but, one is left wondering if it was because of their ambiguity and uncertainty that Tozer's statements were kept out. Was it because one can interpret them as being anti-cableway? - ‘preserve the Hinterland and world heritage areas in their current form.’ Of course it must be preserved without the addition of silly ‘attractions’ that interest tourists who seek only more and more extreme delights that have nothing to do with World Heritage values. These are so important and must be remembered: these standards recognise the unique biodiversity of the region, its flora and fauna. Anything that might jeopardise this rich complexity must never be a part of any plan for Springbrook. World Heritage must be the core reference for everything. A cableway fails the test!

Councillor Tozer knows the strong feelings that are held by many at Springbrook on the idea of a cableway. That any objection might be expressed at this time when the idea is being pushed with the hope that someone might take the bait, is apparently unacceptable to the Gold Coast Council, the Tourist Board and the Bulletin. The Mayor says it clearly: “If someone wants to bring a cableway forward I say bring it on.”

And so will the residents of Springbrook who know the place and care for it and its qualities. So yet again, the hope that a cableway might be built surfaces, in spite of the past. But the past will rise again too; World Heritage must be protected, or the area will, like the Great Barrier Reef, risk being delisted. Would this look good on the tourist brochures? - Come, visit our delisted World Heritage region that once was great.

Why should one fear a cableway? The article makes it clear: it is only for tourism. This has nothing to do with World Heritage, nothing at all, other than that this listing can become part of the attractive commercial promotional material used to drag in more and more tourists, even at the risk of damaging the qualities of the place that are recognised in this listing. There is a problem with tourists – see http://springbrooklocale.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/who-or-what-is-tourist.html

The text confirms this position that seeks to see something as an attraction to make money:
the Hinterland could generate economic Gold for the Coast,

To achieve this, different experiences are structured , unusual matters that attract those seeking thrills:
would deliver “accessible and diverse tourism experiences” in Springbrook and the Hinterland

World Heritage alone is never enough. The ‘secret gem’ needs more and more for it to attract:
“The Hinterland is the Gold Coast’s secret gem and we need to explore the possibilities of how we market the area and how we can explore mixing tourism with the environment."


Of course, anything will be allowed and everything will be green, happy and environmental - world’s best practice: no problems:
“Whatever is done must be environmentally sensible and sustainable but this report is food for thought for a lot of people and we are excited about the possibilities.”

This beautiful place that is currently open to all to visit, needs something else – a shot in the arm: it needs its heroin boost to hype up everything for tourists seeking the next high:
Mayor Tom Tate backed the concept and it could give the Hinterland a much-needed shot in the arm.

Growth is critical to this ambition, but its impact on World Heritage values is never questioned. It is always the money, the gold, that draws the attention and drives the ambitions:
It is hoped the Gold Coast will double overnight visitor expenditure to $7 billion a year by 2020.
Nature tourism is worth more than $25 billion to the state economy.



Roger Scruton pointed out that beauty has a moral content. We need to remember this. It makes one able to say that the thrust for the cableway has the taint of the immoral.

But will this make any difference? No. We are dealing with politicians.
Ian Rankin, in the frontispiece to his novel, Strip Jack, quotes from Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara:
He knows nothing: and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.

We need much better than this for our World Heritage. A little knowledge is indeed a very dangerous thing. Blind greed is equally as dangerous too: unscrupulous.




For details on Springbrook see www.springbrookrescue.org.au 

P.S. 1 June 2014
Jane Goodall speaking in Sydney to promote her Roots & Shoots programme:
"It's when money becomes a god that we see the loss of wisdom."
Find out more about Roots & Shoots at janegoodall.org.au





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