Bruny Island ripe for visitor levy as

TOURISM policies spruik the need for more and more visitors, direct flights from overseas and even an extended airport runway to take bigger planes.

A new contract for a larger Bruny ferry (or two) is on the horizon. Yet Bruny does not have recycling facilities for its residents, let alone toilets and rubbish bins for the 200,000 visitors a year.

Last month representatives of Bruny Island Community Association met with Infrastructure Minister Rene Hidding, the Kingborough mayor and Department of State Growth to discuss the concerns about the impacts of the tourism tsunami.

The 800 Bruny islanders who live, work, pay taxes and rates, and host and rescue visitors are custodians of the “jewel in Tasmania’s tourism crown”, as Premier Will Hodgman has called it. We don’t need another study. We need action.

Mr Hidding asked for a community “wish list”.

The list was modest, realistic and achievable.

So, what has the Bruny community requested?

First, Bruny needs rubbish and recycling bins. Rubbish disposal is a public health issue. We are told there is a quota on the number of bins Bruny is allowed, so bins get moved around.

Second, more permanent toilets. The spread of disease is a public health issue. Until more permanent toilets are built, serviced portaloos are urgently needed at hot spots on North and South Bruny for the summer holiday season and until after Easter.

Reduced speed limits on The Neck are supported by council. The Neck road is particularly dangerous near the car park, for both pedestrians and wildlife. This area should be a 40-45km/h zone with graduated zones before and after the car park at 60-80km/h maximum. Signs with 45-50km/h must be erected from Alonnah Village to south of the hotel, and around the Adventure Bay shop-caravan park precinct.

Priority loading on the ferry for essential medical staff and the pharmacist is just common sense.

Major parties have resisted any concept of a visitor tax or levy. How can basic health and road safety infrastructure by paid for?

It is unjust to expect 800 resident taxpayers on relatively low or fixed incomes to underwrite the pleasure trips of 200,000 visitors a year.

The number of visitors to Bruny at any one time needs to be restricted. Two larger ferries will only exacerbate current problems.

A visitor levy is no big deal. Levies are used in other parts of Australia and overseas and built into air, boat and ferry tickets. A levy can help maintain health and safety infrastructure, and the environmental values and iconic coastal scenery and beaches tourists come to see.

It could be built into the government’s new ferry contract.

Howls of protest can be expected from those who do not live with human faeces, used nappies and rubbish in their yards and on beaches.

The WA Tourism Council

An island without enough bins and loos needs some serious resources, says Rosemary Sandford

said last year about Rottnest Island: “Experiences on islands are always going to be more expensive than on the mainland, simply because of the inherent cost of operating on an island”. Rottnest Island discounts tickets in non-peak periods.

Stewart Island in New Zealand includes a visitor levy of $NZ5 in its ticket price. Lord Howe Island includes an environmental levy in its airfares. This is used to protect the famous natural, wildlife and bird values and for recycling and processing waste. The British Virgin Islands charge an annual $10 environmental and tourism levy per person with exemptions for residents, visitors under two and the disabled.

The Isle of Skye in Scotland, with a population of 10,000 and 70,000 visitors a year, plans a motorhome levy; Spain’s Balearic Islands recently doubled the visitor tax because of growing unease over mass tourism; and US national parks strictly control visitor numbers and charge entry fees to help maintain iconic parks such as Yosemite.

On Bruny, Parks and Wildlife should be resourced to collect entry fees for The Neck, the Lighthouse, camp sites and other reserves.

As Charles Wooley notes ( Tas Weekend, December 16), locations suffering from excessive tourism are moving to control visitor numbers and the Greek island of Santorini is limiting daily visitors.

Bruny Island is no different but tends to be treated as a cash cow, rather than as a respected and environmentally unique gem. Bruny is home for its residents as well as a fleeting tourism moment on someone’s selfie or bucket list.

Government, opposition, Kingborough Council and the tourism industry need to accept the need to control visitor numbers.

Bruny Islanders work well together to resolve problems. Working with government and council to restrict visitor numbers and develop a levy would be a good first step towards a sustainable future. Dr Rosemary Sandford is a member of several Bruny Island community organisations. She has been visiting Bruny for 38 years and lives there part-time. Dr Sandford had a career in community development, public policy and academia in Australia and overseas.