The headline in the
Gold Coast Bulletin declared: City leaders banking on tourist info centre to
boost Gold Coast Hinterland visitor numbers: see report below.
Why is a ‘tourist
information centre’ at Wunburra Lookout on Springbrook going to ‘boost numbers
in the Hinterland’? Will it be the ‘plush toys, arts and craft and local foods’ that will draw the crowds in?
Why would the national park, the World Heritage-listed National Park, not be
the drawcard, itself a sufficient attraction? Is the aim merely to get tourists
to visit and spend their money on some trinket, toy, or an arty craft piece
while enjoying a snack or a meal on a day out; or is it to promote World
Heritage values? Gosh, the visitors would not have to travel any further along
the plateau than the end of the one-way track at Wunburra to enjoy these
attractive ‘whiz-bang’ facilities! The aim seems to be to flippantly and
compliantly cater for the classic tourist who has no interest in anything but
entertainment, games and unusual distractions: see -
The prediction that
an information centre ‘would inject $34.8 million into the local economy’ seems
ambitious. $34.8 million is a lot of money: but what time scale is this
prediction based on? Is it one year or one hundred years? The statistic looks
like a red herring as it appears to be meaningless, merely a big, impressive
number used in the same manner as the ‘Sydney Opera House’ is used to define
the qualities of any proposed attraction that seeks some persuasive ‘iconic’
characteristic: see - http://springbrooklocale.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/gold-coasts-sydney-opera-house-eiffel.html and http://springbrooklocale.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/gold-coasts-sydney-opera-house-eiffel.html Is the figure
just something added to impress in order to promote the idea, to make it more
agreeable?
How many more people
does Springbrook need? How many more would this centre encourage to visit the
region? If the $34.8 million is based on a period of one year, then, if every
person spends $50.00 each visit on toys, craft or ‘local foods’ - what foods
are local? . . . indeed, what crafts are local? – then an extra 1900 people a
day, every day of the year, will have to visit the region.* This is a massive
increase in numbers for a very fragmented area that is so environmentally
sensitive. The question needs to be asked: what is the carrying capacity of
Springbrook? What are the numbers of visitors that the World Heritage area can
cope with and still maintain the integrity of its rich environmental diversity
for which it is listed? Independent research needs to be undertaken in order to
have this question answered. Guessing and hoping, or just ignoring the issue,
are not good enough.
Strangely, the
predicted dollars are big but the site is tiny. This proposed information
centre that is ‘to boost’ the Gold Coast Hinterland is going to be developed in
an area reported to be 323 square metres. What size is this building? How many
vehicles are to be accommodated in this precinct that has such a restricted
space, but is still expected to attract possibly 1900 extra visitors a day? Who
knows what number is expected? If the dollar prediction were based on a period
of ten years, there would be an extra 190 people a day, every day, spending $50
each. Ten cars – it seems to be a reasonable number - take about 250 square metres plus general access space. One might
guess that a bus parking space would be provided too, maybe two. So what area
is left for a building? Or, to look at it another way, with a building
providing what one might guess to be an adequate general display area, an
information counter, a shop, a café and amenities all as the report suggests,
what space might be left for any vehicles to stop?
The figures look
alarming dodgy, irrational. The prediction of millions of dollars coming in
with an information centre that has no car parking, or with a car park serving
only a miniscule information centre, appears strangely askew. Is this promotion
all part of an ambitious dream promoted by a ‘snake oil’ salesman? Has anyone
thought seriously about this place? The report carries images of Natural
Bridge. While this natural rock arch is in a remote fragment of Springbrook
National Park, it is not at Springbrook or anywhere near Wunburra. What is the
aim for this information centre? What is the rationale? Is it merely political
hype?
More than ever, the
muddling confusion seems to point to the need for such a place to be located at
Nerang, so that the World Heritage region can be promoted at a place away from
the sensitivities of the World Heritage area, near the busy tourist highways in
a place that can provide adequate areas for the information centre and its
required parking: see –
Is this proposal just
an ad hoc ‘Council promo’ that gathers every cliché seen at information centres
around the world – ‘open seven days a week, provide free Wi-Fi, sell
merchandise, food and drink and provide audiovisual and digital technology
interaction’? What is the scale of this operation that is described like an
arcade game and amusement centre? Why on earth would anyone want to encourage
those interested in participating in these entertainments into World Heritage
areas? Keep the tourist attractions and distractions on the Gold Coast tourist
strip, near the much-loved tourist attractions of Dreamworld, Movie World,
Wet’n’Wild and Sea World. Tourists adore convenience and ‘whiz-bang’ effects.
One ticket could do all! Nerang is an ideal place as it is the location from
which those truly interested in seeing and caring for World Heritage areas can
access them, both on the Springbrook Plateau and at Natural Bridge in the
Numinbah Valley. Nerang also fits in between, near all of the other tourist
attractions that the Gold Coast is promoted for. World Heritage 'attractions' must never
become a part of this list.
Are Councillors
seeking to create monuments for their own glory? Why do ill-considered ideas
like this arise? Why do silly, vague, endorsing reports like this get
published? Governments do have an obligation to properly manage World Heritage
regions. Promoting such apparently poorly thought out ideas as this Wunburra ‘information centre’ will do little to
enhance place or identity – or profit. Clear rigorous thinking and feeling is
needed if World Heritage place is to be enriched. Jumping on the bandwagon of
tourism delights in a World Heritage location is unlikely do anything for
anyone, not even Councillors, especially so if the facts appear to make the
whole vision look like a careless farce.
Oh, no! Surely not!
Will this be a multistorey development? Cars below, entertainment levels above?
Will this be Springbrook’s first escalator? Maybe a lift? Oh, no! One can see
it already: a glass enclosed lift for tourists to enjoy the trees, as they
would expect. No. World Heritage principles must always be the core of everything that
might happen on Springbrook: not tourism.
* The ambiguity in the report allows for many interpretations.
The ‘$34.8 million into the local economy’ statement can mean anything. By way of example, the
figures here interpret ‘local’ to mean Springbrook: but what is ‘local’? – see:
http://voussoirs.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/what-is-local_12.html The whole matter is vague, uncertain and indistinct,
allowing any explanation to make sense – just as politicians like it.
REPORT
LIFESTYLE
City
leaders banking on tourist info centre to boost Gold Coast Hinterland visitor
numbers
ANDREW POTTS
GOLD COAST BULLETIN
JULY 27, 2015 10:51AM
The Natural bridge,
Springbrook National Park. Picture: JERAD WILLIAMS
City leaders are banking on a
tourist information centre to be built at Springbrook in a bid to boost numbers
to the Hinterland.
In the wake of the Skyride
cable car plan being put on hold by its backers, the Gold Coast City Council is
investigating building a $1.1 million centre. It is thought a permanent
information centre, also selling plush toys, arts and craft and local foods,
would inject $34.8 million into the local economy.
The centre is earmarked for a
site at Wunburra Lookout covering about 323sq m.
Area councillor Glenn Tozer
said an upgrade of nearby intersections would be needed if the facility was
built at the lookout.
“The ratio of overseas
visitors coming here is higher than the rest of the Coast and someone not from
here is more interested in the Hinterland experience,” he said.
“So ... it is important we get
this right but we want to work with the state to get the best location and make
sure it is aligned with other facilities.”
Council documents to the
Economic Development committee said the area needed a proper tourist facility.
“It must ... open seven days a
week, provide free Wi-Fi, sell merchandise, food and drink and provide
audiovisual and digital technology interaction.”
Natural Bridge, Springbrook National Park. Picture:
JERAD WILLIAMS
