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Point Nepean National Park and the Quarantine Station are jewels in Victoria’s conservation estate. It has multiple layers of history – Indigenous communities, early European settlement, quarantine and military defense – and magnificent coastal landscapes.
Over many years we have fought hard with the community to have the Commonwealth land at Point Nepean returned to Victoria for a national park.
In 2009, the last piece was returned, 90 hectares at the Quarantine Station. With it, Point Nepean National Park was complete.
But that wasn’t the end of the story.
In 2013, the Napthine Government signed a lease with a property developer to establish a luxury hotel and spa in the Quarantine Station and among threatened coastal moonah woodland.
It was excessive and inappropriate, and along with the local community we opposed it. The new Andrews Government allowed the lease to lapse in 2015.
Since then, the government has reviewed the draft 2010 master plan for the park. A new draft master plan was released in December 2016 and the final plan is expected before the middle of 2017.
After that, the government will seek expressions of interest from parties wishing to offer activities and uses in the Point Nepean National Park.
The draft master plan provides the foundation for protecting the natural and cultural values of the park, but there are three areas that are of concern.
The first is the proposal for a large jetty at the Quarantine Station in the middle of the sanctuary zone for the endangered Burrunan Dolphin. The jetty would encourage many more boats to use the dolphin area.
The funds needed to build and manage the jetty would be better spent on managing and maintaining the existing park infrastructure.
The second issue concerns proposals for new buildings in the Quarantine Station. The plan currently proposes three but may also ‘allow opportunities for potential new buildings as required’.
The Quarantine Station contains heritage-listed buildings that can and should be adaptively used for a variety of activities without the need for new buildings.
And finally, the implementation plan provides no guidance on how the community can be engaged in the future planning and management of the park.
We will work to ensure Point Nepean National Park’s natural and cultural values are properly managed and respected, and that inappropriate development is avoided both on the land and water.
You can stay up-to-date on the master planning and expression of interest processes by signing up to our conservation updates.
Our vision for Point Nepean National Park is of a park where: