Alpine Council is betting on an election commitment being made to the Mount Buffalo chalet, committing $200,000 to a $1.8 million proposal to re-establish a cafe in the building.
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But campaigners fear whether or not a new government comes in, the full restoration of the chalet will be further delayed.
The enactment of a community group in 2015, identifying seven tourism concepts for the national park, culminated in a PricewaterhouseCoopers feasibility study being tabled at council’s meeting this week.
Councillor John Forsyth called Mount Buffalo and the chalet “icons”, in speaking to Cr Sarah Nicholas’ motion to put $200,000 to the cafe, on the proviso $1.8 million would be committed by Labor, Liberal or otherwise ahead of the election.
“When you look through the seven proposals, the glass-bottomed sky walkway is a bit of a pie-in-the-sky; glamping will probably come along anyway; but to get general visitation, the cafe in the chalet is probably the best option there is,” he said.
“Reading through the report, it’s around a $2 million investment to do that.”
National Trust of Australia Victoria chief executive Simon Ambrose echoed Cr Forsyth’s comments in responding to the PwC report.
“We don’t need an expensive sky-walk to draw in visitors,” he said.
“The PwC report supports what the National Trust has been saying all along – Mt Buffalo chalet has the potential to generate huge economic benefits for the region and the state.
“This is because the chalet still resonates strongly with the Victorian community as a vital part of our cultural heritage, despite the fact it has been closed to visitors for more than a decade.
“But if the government does not make a meaningful investment now, this economic potential – and our priceless heritage – will be lost forever.
“We call on all political parties, and local candidates to embrace this opportunity, and make a commitment today to securing funding for a cafe and visitor services, and further restoration works to enable the chalet to reopen as accommodation.”
What will happen to the entire chalet is of particular concern to campaigner Richard Rhodes, who believes the project should focus instead on the Mansfield’s Cafe space and not put at risk the heritage of the front rooms, where it’s currently proposed.
“Twelve thousand people have signed a petition stating clearly that they want the Mount Buffalo chalet restored to its original glory without damaging or altering the exterior,” he said.
“There are many further protests against the other commercial proposals across the plateau … and Victorian National Parks has also expressed disdain.
“Why can’t Manfield’s Cafe, which has had considerable work already done to it, be completed and therefore provide a perfectly good solution to the food and beverage issue?”
Mr Rhodes said many of the recommendations PwC had made were already put forward in an Ernst and Young report from 2013 that cost the then Napthine government $213,000.
Ernst and Young evaluated many development options – including luxury accommodation in a fully redeveloped chalet – and recommended the government commit to a day visitor centre scenario in the chalet as a first step.
The $7.8 million project which included the restoration of the heritage core of the chalet and demolition of poor-quality parts of the building, while integrating a cafe and day centre, was shelved by the incoming Labor government in 2015.
Mr Rhodes said the Mount Buffalo Activation Taskforce didn’t have the full support of the community and called on the state government to commit to the full restoration of the building.
“PwC quote it would take $60 million to fully restore the chalet – that represents 0.513 per cent of the $11.7 billion windfall received from the sale of the Port of Melbourne and Victoria’s share of the Snowy Hydro sale,” he said.
“An insignificant amount of expenditure on the building is trickled out from the government with great fanfare in order to appease the general public who have not been told the true and accurate situation of 16 years of demolition by neglect.
“The next step will be to get the petition, which is still open, to Premier Daniel Andrews and continue to increase public awareness of the real truth.”
In releasing the PwC report, Alpine Mayor Ron Janas said it was the closest the community have ever been to seeing the reinvigoration of the chalet.