Prime National Park location for lease!
Beautiful Poona Lake is where one of the campsites for the proposed Cooloola Great Walk will be situated
Linda Tabe, Cooloola Coastcare
A private company from South Australia has been selected to develop part of the Great Sandy National Park, Cooloola Recreation Area, for its own profit.
The company, CABN, proposes to build fully serviced accommodation at five sites along the Cooloola Great Walk, currently a beautiful, remote walking track between Rainbow Beach and Noosa.
Power will be supplied to cabins and “glamping” tent structures by solar panels backed up by diesel generators. Aside from the initial disturbance of the construction phase, there will be on-going impacts from heavy vehicle traffic through the National Park.
Water, gas, diesel and supplies will be trucked in for guests who will pay approximately $800 per night for a guided walk package. Sewage, dirty linen and rubbish will be trucked out over sand tracks that now take only occasional Parks vehicles.
One of the development sites is less than 100 metres from the edge of Poona Lake, a uniquely beautiful local attraction. Imagine sitting on the pure white beach (pictured) as the diesel generator across the water starts up for evening showers and meals in the luxury cabins!
This project continues a worrying trend in the management of Queensland National Parks, with more development planned, for example, on Hinchinbrook Island.
The Queensland Department of Environment and Science is taking public submissions on the Cooloola Great Walk Ecotourism Project by email at Ecofacilities@des.qld.gov.au.
There is no set format for submissions, just attach a pdf to your email; comments are open until “late 2021”.
