The Nyerimilang model – a solution for the Mt Buffalo Chalet?
Update: A response from Alpine council’s CEO Ian Nicholls re this post:
Thank you for your input to the future of the Chalet. I have taken your views on board and they will form part of Alpine Shire Council’s presentation to the Minister.
That’s great.
If only the Chalet were kept in this condition ~ click on image to enlarge
We’ve just got home from a wonderful 10 days spent at the coast around the beautiful Gippsland Lakes. One of the area’s great attractions (as if they need any more!) is the magnificent Nyerimilang Heritage Park near Lakes Entrance, which consists of a grand old historic homestead set in manicured grounds and about 500 acres of former farmland and natural bush … all overlooking the lakes and the ocean. We spent a great afternoon there enjoying the picnic grounds, free barbeque/picnic facilities, a tour through the perfectly restored & preserved homestead (gold coin donation), the views and the many walking tracks through the natural bush and wetlands. Nyerimilang is a significant tourist attraction in its own right and guess what? It’s owned by the government too (i.e. Parks Victoria), just like the Chalet is.
The parallels between Nyerimilang and the Mt Buffalo Chalet cannot be denied yet the Chalet is closed and deteriorating while Nyerimilang is preserved and functioning as a genuine tourist attraction. Of course the Nyerimilang homestead is nowhere near as big as the Chalet but it is of the same era and in many ways a microcosm of what the Chalet could become. If this style of management can work for Nyerimilang (and it does work and has, since 1976), imagine how well it would work for the Mt Buffalo Chalet, which has a lot more going for it in terms of grandeur and vistas.
This is the model we should be following in order to “reopen” the Chalet, not as a privately owned hotel/resort but as an historically preserved building open to the public and maintained by a combination of donations, the government and local support groups.
Think about it – the Mt Buffalo Chalet simply cannot be turned into a functioning accommodation centre without a massive investment of up to $50 million and, even then, there’s no guarantee that it would be viable. And how would closing it off to the public and making it into a rehashed, contemporary styled private resort (with most of the structures removed leaving only a facade of the original building!) help the local tourist industry? Surely its best function is to serve as an attraction for daytrippers staying in the established tourist towns around the mountain’s base like Bright & Porepunkah.
BUT, if we were to adopt the Nyerimilang model, the only major investment required would be to restore those parts of the building now in decay and add some decent picnic & barbeque facilities and some interpretive signage. All up, I think a budget of well under $3 million would see the Chalet fit for day tours. Surely the State Government would see fit to fund that?
Additionally, the Manfield Cafe could be reopened, as could the bar, and leased out to an operator to service the daytrip visitors, of which I’m sure there would be many. The rental from those leases could go into maintenance works, as could the donations from the tours of the magnificent building.
There has been far too much hand-wringing over the future of the Chalet but the reality is that private operation as an accommodation resort has been tried – 3 times – and failed. It’s not a viable proposition anymore and maybe it never was. Why should we down here in Bright be pushing so hard for it to reopen as a private hotel? That just wouldn’t benefit anyone.
The answer is simple: Restore it, preserve it and open it up as an historic day trip attraction. Problem solved.
………………………
PS: Apparently the Alpine Council is meeting with the State Environment Minister tomorrow (Wednesday) to seek some answers over the Chalet’s future following the recent rejection of the $51 million proposal put forward by a group of, um, …… enterprising locals, who wanted to basically build a new and tasteless facility with public funding while putting none of their own money up. I’ve emailed council’s CEO Ian Nicholls with my suggestion that they go for the Nyerimilang model. Hopefully it’ll get a hearing. I mean, someone has to use some common sense here.
Promoting 'Beautiful Bright'.
Click 
That would be a good start, however, I get the feeling that visitors to the chalet could well start to ask about staying there. If the initial investment gets the doors open, this could lead to bigger and better things.
Nah, Noel, that’s a bridge too far.
There’s an old saying:
“Some think that half measures are enough, however, nobody wishing to cross a wide ditch would attempt to cross half of it first”.
Noel, it’s never been a viable operation except when owned & run by the government. And those days are gone too. To call my idea a “half measure” is to deny that reality and aim for a ‘pie in the sky’ (just to throw anther cliche in the mix).
‘pie in the sky’ How apt, I can see it on the menu now!
A ‘half baked’ pie that’s never going to rise, I’d suggest.
Interesting comments there Ray. I wondered why there had been no updates lately. Hopefully the model will get them thinking and maybe one step closer to reopening the doors. I am sure I could fit in a commet about Ray Dyer here somewhere but I won’t !
LOL, Gillie. Actually, I saw Dyer this morning, driving past our property in the “Save Mt Bufflo (sic) Chalet’ car, with the kayak on top (and the goat in the back, I think). He looked like a man on a mission. As I said to Leanne, he’s either headed down to the shire offices to meet the Minister or he’s off to Canberra to ‘ambush’ Julia Gillard. Great stuff!
Update
A response from Alpine council CEO Ian Nicholls re this post:
That’s great.
There was some kerfuffle last week when Dyer parked his rig outside the Shire Offices on a Council meeting day. I thought he was expecting some calamitous flood and had kayak prepared with his campaign manager in tow, ready for the deluge. Seems he knows something we don’t.
You’ve gotta hand it to him though, Baldrick, the man knows how to campaign. Maybe while he’s in Canberra he could give Julia a few tips? Ooops … too late?
I suspect he has a direct line to Abbott, Rudd and Katter.
They might as well swear him in now – Mayor Dyer is an absolute certainty come October.
Actually, I reckon the Bright Caravan Park group would be very happy with that – much happier than they are with the current High Country Cattleman Mayor from Brokeback Mountain. At least Dyer’s on the right hill.
But Roper might be able to steer him in the right direction.
Correction, gentlemen. There are now two goats, not one. The lad was setting up a very colorful display at Ovens this monrning, complete with large artificial daisies, stuffed bears, battered Corolla plus the beasties.
This raises the question. If Dyer is elected Mayor of Alpine Shite, which goat becomes the deputy? It could get nasty – much head butting, horns clashing before the matter is settled. A compromise would be to offer the loser the Tourism Committee chair. We could do worse.
We went to Albury this morning, Noel, and noticed the 2 goats @ Ovens. The man has really beefed up his election campaign. I mean, he’s doubled his staff!
You’re kidding me.
No, I ‘kid’ you not – Dyer’s staff have horns and they’re butting their way onto council.