News Release - Ian Hunter MLC

A proposal to sell a section of Crown Land at Pelican Lagoon on Kangaroo Island has been rejected by the State Government after overwhelming community concern about public access and protecting wildlife.

All but five of the 780 submissions received in the public consultation period raised significant concerns about ongoing public access to the land and the protection of native flora and fauna, including a white-bellied sea eagle and the southern brown bandicoot.

Sustainability, Environment and Conservation Minister Ian Hunter has considered the social, economic and environmental aspects of the proposal and has declined to sell the waterfront land for this development.

Background

The State Government received a private development application to build an 18-hole golf course at Pennington Bay, 40 kilometres south-east of Kingscote on Kangaroo Island.

While the development application relates to predominantly privately owned, former degraded grazing land, the application was extended to include a portion of waterfront Crown Land.

The Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation is required under section 59 of the Crown Lands Management Act to consult with the community when waterfront Crown Land is proposed to be sold and consider the environmental, social and economic considerations for the sale.

More than 780 submissions were received from members of the public on Kangaroo Island, the broader community and interested stakeholders, with only five submissions broadly supportive of the proposal.

Quotes attributable to Sustainability, Environment and Conservation Minister Ian Hunter

There has been strong community feedback for government to retain this land for community benefit.

While the golf course could still go ahead with the Kangaroo Island coastline in sight, it will not be on the waterfront as proposed.

There were significant concerns raised about social and environmental impacts on the sale of this land including the recent nesting of an endangered white-bellied sea eagle close to the development.

Ultimately, I have decided it was important to keep this land within government ownership on behalf of the community and environment.