The Nobbies Centre, centre of mini tornadoes and multi-million dollar court battles.
Photo: Marcus Wong (Creative Commons)
Photo: Marcus Wong (Creative Commons)
By Catherine Watson
THE recent closure of the Nobbies Centre due to structural damage is the latest twist in a long saga that includes mini tornados and multi-million-dollar court battles and brings to mind the word jinx.
The site was the focus of a heroic – and ultimately futile – community battle against a proposed commercial development that has haunted successive governments.
In the late 1990s, the Kennett Liberal Government struck a deal with developer Ken Armstrong to build a major marine tourism centre at the Nobbies. Tourism on the island until then had been modest.
THE recent closure of the Nobbies Centre due to structural damage is the latest twist in a long saga that includes mini tornados and multi-million-dollar court battles and brings to mind the word jinx.
The site was the focus of a heroic – and ultimately futile – community battle against a proposed commercial development that has haunted successive governments.
In the late 1990s, the Kennett Liberal Government struck a deal with developer Ken Armstrong to build a major marine tourism centre at the Nobbies. Tourism on the island until then had been modest.
Although marketed as an ecotourism complex, the new Seal Rocks Centre - as it came to be known - was anything but modest. It included a multi-storey visitor centre, a large-scale aquarium, restaurants and other attractions.
Plans for the second stage were even more grandiose: a tunnel was to be dug beneath the seabed leading to a tower near Seal Rocks, complete with a restaurant offering close-up views of the seals.
Locals were outraged. To many, this was a spiritual and ecologically sensitive landscape, not a site for large-scale commercial tourism. The plan also included closing the coastal road from the Penguin Parade car park around the southern coast of Summerlands, cutting off one of the island’s most spectacular drives.
Despite a major campaign spearheaded by the Phillip Island Conservation Society, the project was approved by Planning Minister Robert Maclellan – the local MP – and the first stage opened in 1998.
A year later, the newly elected Bracks Labor Government bowed to public and environmental pressure. In May 2000, it issued the developer with notices of dispute and default for non-payment of more than $300,000 owed to the state.
Armstrong’s company took the government to court. After a marathon 170-day Supreme Court hearing, the state was ordered to pay more than $55 million in compensation and legal fees.
In the midst of the legal battle, the Sea Life Centre roof was damaged by a powerful mini-tornado and the centre closed. Armstrong and his company walked away with a tidy profit and a chastened government was left to deal with the fallout and a badly damaged building.
Plans for the second stage were even more grandiose: a tunnel was to be dug beneath the seabed leading to a tower near Seal Rocks, complete with a restaurant offering close-up views of the seals.
Locals were outraged. To many, this was a spiritual and ecologically sensitive landscape, not a site for large-scale commercial tourism. The plan also included closing the coastal road from the Penguin Parade car park around the southern coast of Summerlands, cutting off one of the island’s most spectacular drives.
Despite a major campaign spearheaded by the Phillip Island Conservation Society, the project was approved by Planning Minister Robert Maclellan – the local MP – and the first stage opened in 1998.
A year later, the newly elected Bracks Labor Government bowed to public and environmental pressure. In May 2000, it issued the developer with notices of dispute and default for non-payment of more than $300,000 owed to the state.
Armstrong’s company took the government to court. After a marathon 170-day Supreme Court hearing, the state was ordered to pay more than $55 million in compensation and legal fees.
In the midst of the legal battle, the Sea Life Centre roof was damaged by a powerful mini-tornado and the centre closed. Armstrong and his company walked away with a tidy profit and a chastened government was left to deal with the fallout and a badly damaged building.
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While there were calls to demolish the centre, it was eventually refitted and scaled back to operate as a free-entry information centre, souvenir shop and cafe with spectacular views over Seal Rocks. The road remained open to the public – for now.
Things have been relatively quiet at the Nobbies since then. But in May this year, the centre and surrounding boardwalks were suddenly closed due to a “structural issue”. No details were released. |
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The boardwalks reopened in early July in time for the school holidays, but the centre itself remains shut pending the outcome of a new Summerlands Peninsula master plan.
A media release from Phillip Island Nature Parks stated that the building’s location – right on the exposed southern coast – meant significant investment would be required to repair and reopen it in its current form.
Nature Parks CEO Catherine Basterfield said engineering inspections had confirmed the building is not safe to reopen at this stage.
“We’ve prioritised securing the site so the boardwalks and car park can be freely accessed,” she said. “The views, blowhole and excitement of whale watching are the true attractions at this incredible site. We hope to see visitors and the local community enjoying the rugged coastline throughout the whale season.”
Source: An Island Worth Conserving: A History of the Phillip Island Conservation Society, 1968-2006. By Christine Grayden.
A media release from Phillip Island Nature Parks stated that the building’s location – right on the exposed southern coast – meant significant investment would be required to repair and reopen it in its current form.
Nature Parks CEO Catherine Basterfield said engineering inspections had confirmed the building is not safe to reopen at this stage.
“We’ve prioritised securing the site so the boardwalks and car park can be freely accessed,” she said. “The views, blowhole and excitement of whale watching are the true attractions at this incredible site. We hope to see visitors and the local community enjoying the rugged coastline throughout the whale season.”
Source: An Island Worth Conserving: A History of the Phillip Island Conservation Society, 1968-2006. By Christine Grayden.