GARDENS OF STONE

After decades of struggle, local conservation groups won additional protection for the Gardens of Stone near the NSW town of Lithgow. Sitting to the south of Gardens of Stone NP, the new, approximately 30,000ha state conservation area, with a world-class tourism and conservation vision, would be a win for workers, the community, and the environment. Called Destination Pagoda, it proposed a gentler, more family-friendly and nature-immersive experience than its rugged World Heritage-listed neighbour, the Blue Mountains NP. This vision celebrated the national park idea, allowing the new state conservation area reserve to be upgraded once already-approved underground coal mining in the area ceased.

It seemed to be a victory for conservationists. But when the NSW Government announced the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area in 2021, it came—thanks to pressure from Deputy Premier and local Nationals member, Paul Toole—with multi-million-dollar infrastructure subsidies to support an adventure theme park and accommodation proposals.

If approved, there’ll be large impacts on the natural and cultural heritage from the four proposed privately leased accommodation nodes or resorts located on remote, intact and scenic parts of the Gardens of Stone SCA. The selection of sensitive sites disregards the NPWS’s sustainability guidelines for new accommodation that specify use of disturbed sites. The associated walking track seems an afterthought amongst the backroom deals that have perverted park management processes, with lease notices exhibited over Christmas 2022 that were accompanied by only five lines of information.

The proposals for the Lost City Adventure Precinct include ziplines, elevated walkways and via ferrata climbs; these will create visual blight, and monopolise use of Lithgow’s most scenic pagoda landscape, a view as awe-inspiring as the Three Sisters. The Lost City location could also put people at risk as Marrangaroo Military Base that uses live ammunition and ordnance is just 400m away.

Lithgow’s best chance of becoming the next Katoomba is visitor management that puts nature first. Proposed resort developments on-park will siphon off paying visitors who might have otherwise spent money in the local community. Gardens of Stone is a wonderland of dramatic pagoda rock formations, and it doesn’t need artificial adventures that sideline nature. Nature is good enough with amazing wild adventures, even for grandparents and the kids, so join us on the frontline to a sustainable future: gardensofstone.org.au

KEITH MUIR

The new 30,000ha reserve is being damaged by ongoing coal mining, and threatened by proposed commercial leases for tourism development over five sites. Instead, it should be managed to protect:

- Internationally rare & spectacular pagoda rock formations

- Nationally endangered upland swamps

- Significant Aboriginal heritage

- 84 threatened plant and animal species

- 16 rare and threatened ecological communities

- Over 1,000 native plant species

- 319 vertebrate species

- Forested windblown sand dunes from the last Ice Age

End native forest logging and support the creation of the Great Forest National Park