Thank you to all who made submissions on National Parks and Wildlife Service proposals to manage the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area. We are seeking to fix the vague draft plan of management for the reserve and the accompanying draft Master Plan for visitor management creates a parallel process with no legal force under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974.
Except for pest management strategies, the draft plan of management has few details on nature conservation action. There are no restoration management actions, apart from studies, to spend the very large biodiversity offset fund available for this work.
The draft plan proposes a Lost City adventure activity precinct and up to four accommodation nodes are a real concern. It is even more worrying that what is actually proposed to be built will be decided through commercial-in-confidence lease negotiations, that are not subject to transparent and open public consultation processes. This is the public's reserve, and we can't let secret deals risk make a mess of what should become a really great new park.