Alpine Opinion

At last, some common sense from a Government.

“To begin with, our goal is to reopen the Chalet as a day visitor centre so people can enjoy this important piece of Victoria’s history.” ~ excerpt from press release by the Victorian Minister for the Environment Ryan Smith 16 Feb 2012

It could be coincidence, but the Minister seems to agree with my submission  that the best solution  for reopening the Mt Buffalo Chalet is to put a few $million into improvements and then have it operate as a day-trip attraction for tourists, rather than as an accommodation centre. After  meeting with the Alpine council on Wednesday (who had included my submission in their presentation) the Minister has announced funding for that very purpose:

… (the Minister) said $5 million of insurance funding from the 2006/07 bushfires would be spent on on-grounds works at the Chalet site

The clear indication from not only his press release (full text here), but also from what the Minister said on ABC Local Radio yesterday morning, is that the Government has no intention whatsoever of returning the Chalet to a fully functioning, privately run accommodation centre (due to the outrageous costs involved) and, instead, will take the more sensible option of opening up the historic and magnificent building to the general public for tours, picnics in the grounds, etc, as an added attraction to lure more people to the area. 

While the press release indicates there’ll also be $500,000 allocated on “market testing options for the site”, Mr Smith was fairly adamant on radio that they wouldn’t be entertaining any ‘pie in the sky’ proposals and would only look at options that were wholly funded by the proponents, not by the government.  

“By the end of the year, we will have a clearer idea of what can be achieved at the site, for the benefit of the community and park,” Mr Smith said.

Good … and the local community (i.e. the local tourist industry) will certainly benefit more (and sooner) if the Chalet operates as a day trip centre, rather than as a private hotel. A preserved and open-to-the-public chalet is its best use and will encourage more tourists to the area and, better still, to stay in the already established tourist towns like Bright.

Oh, and why am I claiming that I might have had at least some impact on this outcome? Well, this is my exchange with Alpine council’s CEO Ian Nicholls. Speaks for itself:

Dear Ian,

I understand you are meeting with the Environment Minister tomorrow to discuss the future of the Chalet. Has anyone yet suggested that the idea of running it as a viable private accommodation centre should be abandoned in favour of a not-for-profit preserved historic attraction? I think that’s the obvious answer.

Parks Victoria should know only too well how it could work as a day trip centre. After all, they’ve owned the Nyerimilang Homestead near Lakes Entrance (see http://www.nyerimilang.org.au/Nyerimilang/Welcome.html),  which is a smaller but similar heritage property, as a tourist attraction for over 35 years. And it works. Imagine how well the Chalet would work if the same principles were adopted – it would brain them!

Anyway, below is my suggestion as copied from a recent post I have written. Please give it some consideration – surely the Minister and Parks Victoria would have to agree with this.

Regards, Ray Dixon

And this was Ian’s response:

Ray,

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.

 Regards, Ian