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What do you think are the important environmental tourism issues in the Southern Highlands?
Comment 1 22 Dec 2009, 4:03 PM
Need to increase emphasis on travelling to and from the area on public transport. Promoting special train deals with CityRail / CountryLink might be useful. Liaise with local tourism operators to organise pick-ups from rail stations. Promote cycle tourism esp. linked to train then bike arrangements. Dramatically improve bike-friendliness of the area. Consider new bike trails in road and rail corridors. Promote Highlands as an alternative to BMtns. Dramatically improve Wombeyan Caves Road, which despite being promoted as a tourist road, is exceptionally dangerous and not maintained in parts (mainly outside WSC). Encourage establishment of car hire firms so that people can get the train then hire a car (promote efficient vehicles).
Clean up the Shire - the extent to which weeds are allowed to dominate road and rail verges is very disappointing. Re-establish indigenous vegetation in road corridors, esp in rural areas that are otherwise heavily cleared. Part of the area's appeal is its indigenous vegetation, esp on the more arable landscapes. We could reinstate the tall forests on the basalts and wetter shale soils - not quite Healesville but potentially spectacular in their own right.
Comment 2 17 Feb 2010, 9:51 AM
The current rural subdivision legislation is not based on the principles of sustainability. By mandating 40Ha lots, land is not economically viable for rural production. What is needed are rural lots of approx 2Ha closer to centres. This is how many of the towns in the southern highlands were originally subdivided and it is also the size of land that many more people are looking to relocate to.
Comment 3 23 Sep 2010, 8:44 AM
The enormous amount of litter and rubbish that is strewn along the roadside verges in the shire is absolutely appalling. This is definitely one environmental issue which needs to be addressed by WSC. Most of the this rubbish will, at some stage, end up in the waterways or entrap native animal and birds. This unsightly mess could also be a "put off" to many visitors to the shire from returning.