Paddy Pallin is greatly concerned that if the bill for a Snowy Mountains Special Activation Precinct (SAP) is allowed in Kosciuszko National Park (KNP) it will result in permanent degradation of the park.

The NSW Government is keen to activate the SAP which would allow for increased commercialisation of the Park, to this end the exhibition period for the Snowy Mountain Special Activation Precinct has been quietly fast tracked and it will close on Monday 23rd August. If approved, planning for KNP’s future will be moved out of the hands of Environment Minister Kean and into the hands of deputy Premier Barilaro and his Department for Regional NSW. This does not sound like an environmental management strategy to us!

Tim Pallin expressed his concerns to NSW politicians in this statement:

"I am extremely concerned by John Barilaro’s Special Activation Plan for Kosciuszko National Park (KNP). This draft plan intends to change the National Parks Plan of Management from preserving NSW’s only alpine wilderness into a resort exclusively for the super-rich. It gives Barilaro direct control over the KNP Plan of Management. National Parks are there for all Australians to enjoy and this plan will damage a delicate environment and take wonderful tourist spots within KNP like Yarrangobilly Thermal Pools away from public access and turn them into an exclusive resort for the financial benefit of a few. This Bill must be defeated, it is an affront to the very purpose of National Parks."

One of the main purposes of the proposed Snowy Mountains SAP and associated Draft Plan of Management (POM) is to overrule the KNP Plan of Management strategy in order to make the NSW Governments Snowy Mountains SAP proposed developments legally permissible. As the National Parks Association have clearly identified, “The Masterplan and POM would intensify the stresses already confronting KNP, putting the future of the park at serious risk.  Doing so fails our legal, national and international obligations to protect national parks.  Australia is already an international pariah on so many environmental issues, let’s not add over development of KNP to those failures."  

 To learn more about the threat to the Kosciuszko National Park please visit the National Parks Association of NSW where you can find:

• The Snowy Mountains Special Activation Precinct Masterplan
• The Proposed Plan of Management (POM) Amendments
• Where to send Submissions on the Masterplan, required by 23rd August 2021
• Where to send Submission on the Draft Plan of Management, required by 23rd August 2021