#U/C: Southern Ocean Lodge | Kangaroo Island
Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:51 am
A boost for KI.
Luxury resort for KI
JESSICA HURT, TOURISM EDITOR
October 02, 2006 12:15am
Article from: The Advertiser
A LUXURY resort planned for Kangaroo Island could help solve South Australia's shortage of regional luxury accommodation.
A decision on whether the $12 million Southern Ocean Lodge, planned for a site in Hanson Bay on the island's southwest coast, is approved, is expected within weeks.
The proposed development has sparked controversy over environmental concerns. If approved, it is expected to generate about 35 full-time jobs.
Baillie Lodges plan to develop a premium, nature-based tourism facility, including 25 suites and a spa retreat at Hanson Bay.
Lodge guests are predicted to spend more than $7 million a year on the island, with a further $1 million a year likely to be spent on the mainland.
Some KI residents fear the planned lodge would be a bushfire risk, while Conservation Council of SA president Jane Corin said the council was concerned that tourism imperatives were over-riding good environmental planning and decision making.
"This state runs the risk of long-term environmental degradation as a result of short-sighted development decisions,"she said.
"Hanson Bay is a pristine wilderness environment, situated between two conservation areas, and needs stringent environmental protection to remain so."
A National Tourism Investment Strategy research report in July revealed regional South Australian centres lacked the upmarket accommodation to attract big tourism dollars.
In the past few months, however, regional South Australia has been given a boost with the opening of Rawnsley Park's four new luxury eco-villas, the Murraylands' first five-star accommodation, Riverview Rise Retreats, and the re-development of the Barossa retreat, Peppers The Louise.
A Kangaroo Island source said: "Australia doesn't have a lodge like this. New Zealand has five or six. If it was developed, it would be Australia's best lodge experience."
If approved, construction is expected to start next month, with the lodge opened late next year or early 2008. Developer James Baillie from Baillie Lodges said the island "was missing a higher end nature-based lodge."
South Australian Tourism Alliance chairman Les Penley said the location could not be better.
"If this is not approved, given it complies with all regulations required and developers have done a huge amount of work, it will be a sad day for tourism development in this state," Mr Penley said.
Tourism Kangaroo Island's marketing manager David Honner said four-star or higher accommodation was one of the real growth areas in the Australian domestic market.