❓ A WA parliamentary question regarding the Rottnest Island Management Plan, visitor numbers, sustainable tourism, and potential development. The Minister's response addresses concerns about increased visitor numbers, maintaining the island's character, and sustainable practices.
AnsweredQoN 1357Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(1) Will the Minister ensure that any Rottnest Island Management Plan (RIMP) initiatives likely to increase visitor numbers will not proceed until the outcomes of the Rottnest Island Authority (RIA) commissioned Sustainable Tourism Research (visitor impact) Study is completed in early 2010; and
(a) if not, why not?
(2) Has the Government taken steps to ensure that Rottnest maintains its character of a low key, egalitarian holiday destination for Western Australian and international visitors?
(3) Is the Minister entertaining the prospect of developers being given access to areas of Rottnest Island for further expansion of tourism facilities?
(4) Can the Minister confirm that the final RIMP takes into consideration sustainable visitor numbers to ensure that physical, social and environmental standards are maintained?
(5) Will the Minister advise how many additional visitors over and above the current annual 500,000 (approximately) she believes to be desirable?
(a) if not, why not?
(2) Has the Government taken steps to ensure that Rottnest maintains its character of a low key, egalitarian holiday destination for Western Australian and international visitors?
(3) Is the Minister entertaining the prospect of developers being given access to areas of Rottnest Island for further expansion of tourism facilities?
(4) Can the Minister confirm that the final RIMP takes into consideration sustainable visitor numbers to ensure that physical, social and environmental standards are maintained?
(5) Will the Minister advise how many additional visitors over and above the current annual 500,000 (approximately) she believes to be desirable?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
15 September 2009
Responded by
Minister for Tourism
Response time
34 days
(1) The Rottnest Island Management Plan 2009-14 (RIMP) is not contingent upon the Sustainable Visitor Capacity Research. As the results from the research become available in 2010 they will provide information to support other relevant RIMP initiatives. The current research only pertains to popular areas mostly outside the settlement area.
(2) Yes, the nature based, family oriented Rottnest Island holiday traditional character will be maintained.
(3) The only planned developments for Rottnest Island are those proposed in the RIMP. These are planned within the settlement zone.
(4) Yes, the RIMP articulates the Authority's overriding commitment to sustainability in the section of Strategic Direction and Guiding Principles. The Authority is required to maintain the balance between environmental, social and financial considerations to ensure that Rottnest Island remains a sustainable holiday destination.
(5) Sustainable visitor capacity management is not only about total visitor numbers. Other factors to be considered include visitor activities, available facilities, visitor behaviour, and distribution of visitation throughout the year. For example, a group of 10 visitors without understanding of the Island's environmental and cultural significance may create a larger impact than 100 informed visitors. Therefore, it would not be prudent to speculate about visitor numbers on their own, but should be considered in the context of other factors.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
(2) Yes, the nature based, family oriented Rottnest Island holiday traditional character will be maintained.
(3) The only planned developments for Rottnest Island are those proposed in the RIMP. These are planned within the settlement zone.
(4) Yes, the RIMP articulates the Authority's overriding commitment to sustainability in the section of Strategic Direction and Guiding Principles. The Authority is required to maintain the balance between environmental, social and financial considerations to ensure that Rottnest Island remains a sustainable holiday destination.
(5) Sustainable visitor capacity management is not only about total visitor numbers. Other factors to be considered include visitor activities, available facilities, visitor behaviour, and distribution of visitation throughout the year. For example, a group of 10 visitors without understanding of the Island's environmental and cultural significance may create a larger impact than 100 informed visitors. Therefore, it would not be prudent to speculate about visitor numbers on their own, but should be considered in the context of other factors.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.