Cecily Butorac and I attended a field day and barbecue on the Tasman Peninsula today, as part of the National Parks consultative process to develop a Management Plan for the new Tasman National Park. It started off with a meeting in the council chambers at Nubeena, where I would estimate probably 40 to 50 people attended. These were tourist operators, boat owners, bush walkers, hang gliders, local people, sea kayakers, and no doubt other interests were represented as well.

Participants were able to put forward issues that concerned their field of interest, and these were noted down and will go into a draft plan, which will possibly be out in the new year for public comment. Obviously not everyone will get what they want, and there is no compulsion on the part of the Minister to take any notice of the plan anyway. However, Cec and I were impressed with the way the consultation was done. Apparently there have been many informal meetings with different groups already, and the Maatsuyker Canoe Club was asked for input via email some months ago.

We were then taken by bus to Fortescue Bay where a bit of history was disseminated, and more opportunity given for people to air their concerns about certain issues. As a result we were pleasantly surprised to hear that the boat ramp at Fortescue Bay has been designated a 'public' boat ramp, and can be used for launching and retrieving boats (and sea kayaks) without paying an entry fee. It's a great pity that the onsite Ranger didn't bother to explain this a month ago when 5 of us were launching from the beach to paddle up to Lagoon Bay for the night. Almost before we had turned our engines off, she was alongside telling us that this was now a National Park and fees applied - a very unfriendly attitude we thought at the time.

So if you are starting or finishing a trip at Fortescue Bay, use the boat ramp and avoid the entrance fee.

The day finished with an extremely well organised barbecue at the Port Arthur Caravan park, and I was suitably impressed with the large number of Parks people who were circulating around and making an effort to talk to most people there.
For further or ongoing information, email Vicky, or Megan.

Well done Vicky and Megan and Anni, and all the other Parks people who's names I didn't catch. This is far more likely to get the public onside than the dogmatic attitude taken by the person that visited Cec and myself to 'tell' us what the plan was going to be for the Bass Strait Islands National Park.
Laurie Ford