THE state government says new tourist facilities on the Great Ocean Road will help improve the experience for the millions of visitors who see visit the coastline’s spectacular icons every year.
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Minister for Environment Lily D’Ambrosio revealed new designs for infrastructure projects at Twelve Apostles’ Saddle Lookout, the Port Campbell Creek Pedestrian Bridge and the Blowhole Lookout, as part of the Shipwreck Coast Master Plan.
“These world-class designs will deliver better facilities for visitors to the Great Ocean Road,” she said.
“We’re working in partnership with traditional owners to manage our parks and improve nature-based tourism.”
Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation Jamie Lowe said the coastline and rock formations were sites of great significance where traditional custodians performed ceremonies of celebration, initiation and renewal.
“Recognising and partnering with traditional owners in such designs not only represents an opportunity for bringing Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together, it is an opportunity to showcase an internationally iconic landscape in a culturally and environmentally sensitive way that maximises tourism potential.”
Local artist Vicki Couzens drew inspiration from black and white cockatoos, totemic to the tribes of the Eastern Maar, for the design of the Twelve Apostles lookout, while the Blowhole Lookout replicates a breaching whale, with the seating to reflect the barnacles on its back.
Parks Victoria has now called for expressions of interest for construction of facilities at the Saddle Lookout and the pedestrian bridge, while work at the Blow Hole will proceed in Stage Two of the plan.
Each year, more people visit the Great Ocean Road region than Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef combined, and in the year ending June 2017, its 5.8 million visitors spent $1.3 billion supporting 11,200 jobs in the region.
