IF THERE’S one overwhelming message that the Distinctive Areas and Landscape Standing Advisory Committee will go away with from the public hearings in Bass Coast it will be that everyone here loves tourism, and the visitors that boost our local economy.

That was the firm impression noted by chair of the planning panel, Kathy Mitchell, during a submission to the panel by the chair of Phillip Island Destination Catherine Basterfield on Tuesday, April 18.

“I can’t recall in one single submission where anyone was other than very supportive of tourism in this area. I can’t recall anyone saying there were too many tourists or they were sick of tourism,” said Ms Mitchell.

Ms Basterfield said there were occasions when locals sometimes expressed those sentiments but she said there was an overwhelming support for tourism as a key part of the local economy.

“I think the understanding of how dependent we are on tourism is why it garners so much support, for the jobs it provides to our young people and the fact that the income of so many people in the community is reliant on tourism,” said Ms Basterfield.

In fact, during the introduction to her short verbal submission, in support of Phillip Island Destination’s written submission, Ms Basterfield said the economy of no region in the state was so reliant on tourism as was Phillip Island’s.

“Tourism generates 40 per cent this region’s economy (Phillip Island) but we are aware also that the environment is our economy, and we are prepared to go to great lengths to protect it, so in general terms we are very supportive of the DAL process,” said Ms Basterfield.

But Ms Basterfield went to stress a number of points about the proposed Statement of Planning Policy (SPP) for Bass Coast, saying Phillip Island Destination, the peak body for the local tourism industry, would like to see a stronger statement of support within the SPP for the ‘Phillip Island and San Remo Visitor Economy Strategy 2035.

Specifically, Ms Basterfield noted that some of the key visitor attractions were located outside the town boundaries and PID would not like to see new planning restrictions placed, either on these existing attractions, or also the ability to pursue new tourism opportunities to enhance what the area already offered.

Ms Basterfield named a few of the attractions located outside the town boundaries which were nonetheless vital to the local economy including the Penguin Parade, PI Grand Prix Circuit, National Vietnam Veterans Museum, A Maze’N Things, Phillip Island Winery and the upcoming Hot Springs to name a few.

Protecting agricultural land from residential sprawl was also important, said Ms Basterfield, but that wasn’t to say that complementary eco-tourism activities on farming land, that both protected the land but also made farming enterprises more viable should not be allowed and encouraged.

“This type of land use is not adequately recognised in the draft SPP,” she submitted, noting that many farmers subsidised their income in various ways, while retaining the integrity of the rural landscape.

The submission was well received by the planning panel, with the chair Ms Mitchell saying the group was impressed with the support shown locally for the visitor economy.