Victorian Government to review Point Nepean National Park development

The Victorian Government is seeking legal advice about scrapping a controversial development in Point Nepean National Park on the Mornington Peninsula.

The previous Victorian Government signed a 50-year lease to build a luxury resort in the park in November, just days before it entered caretaker mode.

The deal covers 64 hectares of national park, including all of the historic buildings at the Point Nepean quarantine station.

Victorian Environment Minister Lisa Neville said while the Government was not opposed to small-scale commercial development, such as cafes, it was opposed to large-scale private development in the park.

Minister Neville said the current Victorian Government went to the election with a commitment to review the policy, stating “we're reviewing that lease, we're talking to the developer and we're talking to the community about ensuring that we can make Point Nepean a public access national park as it should be.”

With work yet to start on the project, Minister Neville added “we think we can get a really good outcome down there for the community without any additional cost to the taxpayer.

"This was a deliberate attempt by the (previous) Government to lock the community into a long-term, up to 99-year lease for this national park without any community consultation.”

National parks campaigner Kate Baillieu was delighted the project would be stopped.

Baillieu told the ABC “it was always completely wrong to hand over such a huge chunk of our most historic and beautiful national park to a property developer for 90 years with no benefit to the park.

"People are going to be keeping a very close eye on what happens at Point Nepean."

Images: Point Nepean (top) and a plan of the former Point Nepean quarantine station (below).

7th November 2014 - VICTORIAN GOVERMENT MOVES AHEAD WITH HOT SPRINGS RESORT DEVELOPMENT IN PORT NEPEAN NATIONAL PARK

12th October 2014 - NEW TOURISM ACTIVITIES IN NATIONAL PARKS THREATENS NATURAL HERITAGE

24th August 2012 - PRIVATE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TO BE ALLOWED IN VICTORIA’S NATIONAL PARKS