A little shine for Bruny lighthouse

Plans for treasured spot will enhance the heritage for all visitors, says Craig Parsey

I AM the son of a lightkeeper and my family lived at many of Tasmania’s lighthouse stations including Cape Bruny.

My father, Anthony Parsey, was also a lighthouse keeper at Maatsuyker Island, Eddystone Point and Low Head. I grew up at this station as well as others. My family lived at Cape Bruny in 1977-1979 and my first school was the Bruny Island District School. My dad then took a job at the Bruny Island Ferry and eventually became skipper, and we moved to Kettering in 1979.

When I finished school, I worked on Bruny Island for 12 years and, 40 years on, still have a family shack on South Bruny. I began in nature based tourism in 2003 and came up with the

Bruny Island Safaris concept in 2009, launching the business in 2012. We approached Parks and Wildlife to gain access to the lighthouse as part of our tours, however the lease was not available at that time. We then applied to operate sunset tours outside the lease hours, which was granted. When the lease expired in 2015, there was a process open to all tour operators to apply for tenancy.

In September 2015, we were granted a lease to open the lighthouse to the public, and run daily tours in conjunction with our existing sunset tours, incorporating this into our fully guided day tours and overnight tours to the island.

Last year, Bruny Island Safaris submitted the current proposal for an enhanced experience at the Lighthouse precinct. It is not about building anything, let alone a new tourism development. The proposal has several elements of significant benefit to the local community, which in turn will improve the lighthouse experience for Bruny Islanders and visitors: The cafe is proposed as eat-in, with no takeaway food and using reusable crockery.

All food and drinks will be consumed in the front fenced yard on timber tables made from locally milled timbers.

By practising “Leave No Trace” sustainability practices, Bruny Island Safaris is committed to reducing waste and promotion of waste disposal practices and behaviour through clear signs.

Let me be very clear: our proposal not only maintains public access to the site, but enhances the experience for everyone – locals or tourists.

There are no new buildings proposed. Works will be limited to appropriate internal refit of some of the quarters for accommodation, respectful of the heritage values, as with other heritage sites such as Eddystone Point and Low Head Pilot Station.

The buildings will benefit from a higher level of maintenance in keeping with an improved, authentic experience for anyone visiting.

Bruny Island Safaris and the Parks and Wildlife Service are keen to talk to those with a connection to the lighthouse. There are some highly engaged volunteer groups operating and we are keen to explore how the connection can be maintained, and in what form, should the proposal proceed.

We plan to keep all museum memorabilia in the building for the public to enjoy and I will have a few items of my own to add. We will work on upgrading the experience in the building which will benefit everyone who comes to the site. Our proposal will create eight new jobs with an investment value of $180,000.

I believe we can deliver a unique lighthouse experience better than anything in Australia.