Phillip Island’s Penguin Parade is Australia’s second-most popular tourist attraction with overseas visitors after Uluru. But does the local community pay too high a price for living in a tourist mecca?
By Phyllis Papps
MORE than three and a half million visitors from Victoria, interstate and overseas came to Phillip Island in 2011. Tourists, day-trippers and holiday-makers, they came to enjoy places of historic interest and a smorgasbord of fauna and flora attractions – penguins and seals at The Nobbies, the koalas at Koala Park, the pelicans at San Remo and the wading birds at Rhyll inlet.
During summer and school holidays, the 10,000-hectare island is alive with people enjoying the wonderful landscapes, walking tracks and beaches. But for the permanent population of nearly 10,000 residents, the massive population explosion creates many problems. It’s not just the people but the cars, caravans, boats, four-wheel drives, trailers, motor bikes and pets they bring with them.
A 2010 study of the economic impact of tourism commissioned by Bass Coast Shire Council found that in 2009 visitors contributed just over $1 billion to the local economy and accounted for 2350 jobs. Tourism is a major contributor to the economy of Phillip Island and most businesses thrive during holiday times when summer visitors come flooding in. But Margaret Hancock, past president of the Phillip Island Conservation Society, questions the real benefit to local businesses. “How much money do they really make? I realise people have a very high turnover, but having a high turnover is not the same as having a high profit.”
In 1989 the Grand Prix Circuit was re-opened to the public for Formula One motor cycle racing. The track was extensively overhauled and surrounding facilities upgraded to bring it up to international level.
On the weekend of October 15-16 last year, more than 40,000 bike riders roared into Cowes and surrounding areas to enjoy the Grand Prix racing event. Nearly 100,000 tickets were sold over the three days.
This major international event is only held once a year, but regular testing and commemorative events and championships now occur almost every month. Whether it’s the MotoGP, Supercars or Superbikes, the noise is audible 30 kilometres away.
Anne Davie, a councillor from 1989-92 whose award-winning environmental farm is directly opposite the race circuit, says the re-activation of the Grand Prix has had a dramatic effect on the direction of Phillip Island. “We were very much on about the environment and natural attraction of the Island … We tried very hard and in time we achieved noise controls and other things were put in place, but things have changed.”
In March 2004 the Grand Prix Circuit, venue and surrounding farmland were sold to the Linfox Group, which then revealed plans to build an international luxury resort. Following a two-year David-and-Goliath battle between residents and Linfox, Bass Coast Council approved a modified version of the resort. Work has now started on 382 accommodation units, an 18-hole golf course and a conference centre.
The sheer explosion of the population at different times of the year is a major challenge for local authorities charged with supplying water, roads, parks, rubbish collections and other infrastructure and services. Then there is the damage to the environment – the dumping of rubbish, the wildlife killed on our roads.
Phillip Island’s Penguin Parade is Australia’s second-most popular tourist attraction after Uluru, contributing more than $200 million to the Victorian economy. But how much of this goes to the local community? And how does it help Bass Coast Shire Council, which has a budget of just $70 million to provide services not just for its own residents but for millions of visitors?
Phillip Island lacks a 24-hour police service, yet during holiday periods the crime rate increases, as do traffic offences, vandalism and drunkenness, particularly on New Year’s Eve and at regular festivals. Illegal camping, beach fires, drinking on the streets and beaches and littering increases by nearly 80 per cent, and all-night parties are common.
Despite a community battle of many years, Warley Hospital closed in 2008, and Phillip Island no longer has a 24-hour accident and emergency service. Seventy-five per cent of Warley’s patients were non-residents. The closest hospital is in Wonthaggi, nearly 40 minutes away. Just imagine the impact of a major accident with multiple casualties on the island.
Then we experience developers who come to Phillip Island, buy land, sub-divide it, build high-rise town houses or housing estates, make money, and then move on. Developers take, but what do they contribute to the local community?
Many residents believe inadequate services, utilities and infrastructure have put unacceptable pressure on the Island’s unique environment and the quality of life of the residents. In a survey conducted in 2008 by The Phillip Island and San Remo Advertiser, 91 per cent of respondents said development was out of control and unsustainable.
So whose needs are the greatest? Is it the four million visitors who come here each year, enjoy the natural environs and then leave? Is it the developers who come here, make some quick bucks and move on to make a killing somewhere else? Is it the businesses and traders who are totally reliant on the tourist dollar to make a living? Or is it the 10,000 local permanent residents who are paying increasing rates and getting very little in return?
Anne Davie, now president of the Phillip Island Conservation Society, sums up the battle to balance the interests and needs of all these groups: “You can’t stop development but you need to be able to control appropriate development. It’s such a fine line between keeping what we have and being able to share it.”
MORE than three and a half million visitors from Victoria, interstate and overseas came to Phillip Island in 2011. Tourists, day-trippers and holiday-makers, they came to enjoy places of historic interest and a smorgasbord of fauna and flora attractions – penguins and seals at The Nobbies, the koalas at Koala Park, the pelicans at San Remo and the wading birds at Rhyll inlet.
During summer and school holidays, the 10,000-hectare island is alive with people enjoying the wonderful landscapes, walking tracks and beaches. But for the permanent population of nearly 10,000 residents, the massive population explosion creates many problems. It’s not just the people but the cars, caravans, boats, four-wheel drives, trailers, motor bikes and pets they bring with them.
A 2010 study of the economic impact of tourism commissioned by Bass Coast Shire Council found that in 2009 visitors contributed just over $1 billion to the local economy and accounted for 2350 jobs. Tourism is a major contributor to the economy of Phillip Island and most businesses thrive during holiday times when summer visitors come flooding in. But Margaret Hancock, past president of the Phillip Island Conservation Society, questions the real benefit to local businesses. “How much money do they really make? I realise people have a very high turnover, but having a high turnover is not the same as having a high profit.”
In 1989 the Grand Prix Circuit was re-opened to the public for Formula One motor cycle racing. The track was extensively overhauled and surrounding facilities upgraded to bring it up to international level.
On the weekend of October 15-16 last year, more than 40,000 bike riders roared into Cowes and surrounding areas to enjoy the Grand Prix racing event. Nearly 100,000 tickets were sold over the three days.
This major international event is only held once a year, but regular testing and commemorative events and championships now occur almost every month. Whether it’s the MotoGP, Supercars or Superbikes, the noise is audible 30 kilometres away.
Anne Davie, a councillor from 1989-92 whose award-winning environmental farm is directly opposite the race circuit, says the re-activation of the Grand Prix has had a dramatic effect on the direction of Phillip Island. “We were very much on about the environment and natural attraction of the Island … We tried very hard and in time we achieved noise controls and other things were put in place, but things have changed.”
In March 2004 the Grand Prix Circuit, venue and surrounding farmland were sold to the Linfox Group, which then revealed plans to build an international luxury resort. Following a two-year David-and-Goliath battle between residents and Linfox, Bass Coast Council approved a modified version of the resort. Work has now started on 382 accommodation units, an 18-hole golf course and a conference centre.
The sheer explosion of the population at different times of the year is a major challenge for local authorities charged with supplying water, roads, parks, rubbish collections and other infrastructure and services. Then there is the damage to the environment – the dumping of rubbish, the wildlife killed on our roads.
Phillip Island’s Penguin Parade is Australia’s second-most popular tourist attraction after Uluru, contributing more than $200 million to the Victorian economy. But how much of this goes to the local community? And how does it help Bass Coast Shire Council, which has a budget of just $70 million to provide services not just for its own residents but for millions of visitors?
Phillip Island lacks a 24-hour police service, yet during holiday periods the crime rate increases, as do traffic offences, vandalism and drunkenness, particularly on New Year’s Eve and at regular festivals. Illegal camping, beach fires, drinking on the streets and beaches and littering increases by nearly 80 per cent, and all-night parties are common.
Despite a community battle of many years, Warley Hospital closed in 2008, and Phillip Island no longer has a 24-hour accident and emergency service. Seventy-five per cent of Warley’s patients were non-residents. The closest hospital is in Wonthaggi, nearly 40 minutes away. Just imagine the impact of a major accident with multiple casualties on the island.
Then we experience developers who come to Phillip Island, buy land, sub-divide it, build high-rise town houses or housing estates, make money, and then move on. Developers take, but what do they contribute to the local community?
Many residents believe inadequate services, utilities and infrastructure have put unacceptable pressure on the Island’s unique environment and the quality of life of the residents. In a survey conducted in 2008 by The Phillip Island and San Remo Advertiser, 91 per cent of respondents said development was out of control and unsustainable.
So whose needs are the greatest? Is it the four million visitors who come here each year, enjoy the natural environs and then leave? Is it the developers who come here, make some quick bucks and move on to make a killing somewhere else? Is it the businesses and traders who are totally reliant on the tourist dollar to make a living? Or is it the 10,000 local permanent residents who are paying increasing rates and getting very little in return?
Anne Davie, now president of the Phillip Island Conservation Society, sums up the battle to balance the interests and needs of all these groups: “You can’t stop development but you need to be able to control appropriate development. It’s such a fine line between keeping what we have and being able to share it.”