General News
1 November, 2022
Land grab on the cards
THE owner of an iconic tourism business located at the 12 Apostles faces a nervous wait as the government prepares to forcibly acquire 32 hectares of his land.
THE owner of an iconic tourism business located at the 12 Apostles faces a nervous wait as the government prepares to forcibly acquire 32 hectares of his land.
As WD News reported last month, the State Government recently launched an effort to obtain the private land on which 12 Apostles Helicopters operates under compulsory acquisition.
The State Government plans to develop a new visitor centre on the land in a deal which could cost taxpayers more than $108 million.
12 Apostles Helicopters owner Richard Nesseler said the impending acquirement of the land, adjacent to the 12 Apostles Marine National Park visitor centre, was a “massive overreach”.
“Land is usually compulsorily acquired for roads, schools and public infrastructure – not for a tourism venture on the Great Ocean Road,” he said.
“It’s a precedent which may be worrying for many land owners along the Great Ocean Road, with many successful businesses operating.”
Mr Nesseler said if the current plans went ahead, 12 Apostles Helicopters could be forced to close after 30 years of operation.
He said while “a small plot of land would remain” for 12 Apostles Helicopters to operate from under the deal, the business would be unable to operate under Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) guidelines due to a lack of sufficient buffer space.
“It sucks,” Mr Nesseler said.
“Our family roots are on this property.
“The plan is to compulsorily acquire the land, build on it and then tender the running of that business out to a private enterprise.
“The crux of our argument is the government shouldn’t be spending this money right now when there are so many other areas in need of attention like health care, roads and hospitals.”
Mr Nesseler said the “real sting in the tail” was the State Government’s approach in seeking an intervention to bypass normal land acquisition process, denying the opportunity for the family to put their case before an independent planning panel.
He said it was “an extraordinary stepto take”.
“With a public acquisition, there is a process where the landowner can at least be heard on their case,” Mr Nesseler said.
“The matter is then put before an independent planning body which will ultimately decide if the government has reason to do whatthey’re doing.
“The government is trying to bypass that process by getting a minister to sign off on the immediate acquisition – which is in the act, but is more intended for natural disasters or emergency infrastructure needs rather than a tourism development on the Great Ocean Road.
“It’s a massive overreach, and we’re not sure what the hurry is or why they’re choosing to take that route.”
The need to upgrade the current visitor facilities at the Great Ocean Road is a sentiment Mr Nesseler agrees with, and four years ago submit a proposal to build a 200-person capacity visitor centre featuring a restaurant, toilet amenities block and dedicated parking to accommodate hundreds of vehicles, buses, long vehicles and bicycle parking.
“The 12 Apostles facilities are too small for demand on the site, particularly during public holidays and during the summer period,”he said.
“Our family identified a solution to that problem, on our own land, and the government has decided to do its own effort in that space with taxpayer money by compulsorily acquiring our land.
“Essentially we have a situation where the private sector is willing to do this but four years ago we were blocked from doing so.
“The government then fast-tracked its own facility on this site and have proposed to take 88 acres of our farm to build this on – which is a massive overreach.”
Mr Nesseler said he would still be willing to sit down with the state government and collaborate to ensure the tourism experience at the Great Ocean Road was what it deserved to be, and could not understand why the government was taking such a hardline approach against a local business.
“We’re wondering why compulsory acquisition was the only alternative for the state,” he said.
“There are so many options available if we can work together in this but it’s almost like we’re doing something wrong and they just don’t want us to be here anymore.
“We’re the owners of the property and we feel it’s our right to be involved in this space and not thrown off.
“There’s obviously a different agenda atthe government.”
