Visitors are returning in droves to some of Tasmania’s best natural tourism sites after the devastating floods caused extensive damage earlier this year.
More than 10,000 visitors have visited Marakoopa Cave since it re-opened to the public just before Christmas, with good visitation numbers also at Evercreech Regional Reserve and Liffey Falls.
The Hodgman Government is a strong supporter of our iconic national parks and reserves as many of these sites underpin regional tourism, and these numbers are great news for local businesses and the economy in these regional areas.
Having the budget back under control allowed us to prioritise repairs such as these, and I thank all of our hard-working Parks and Wildlife staff for their great work in getting these sites open before the peak tourism season.
The new lighting system at Marakoopa caves features state of the art LED lights that enhance the natural features of the cave and have provided scope for expanded interpretation of the cave features.
At the Evercreech Regional Reserve near Mathinna in the north-east, a new 15 metre aluminium footbridge replaced the previous timber bridge, while the first major stage of the repairs were recently completed at Liffey Falls that has restored access.
In further good news, Bridges on the Brushy Lagoon Road near Westbury damaged by the floods will also be replaced. In order for the new, permanent bridges to be installed, access to the Brushy Lagoon Road will be closed from 27 February 2017 to 27 March 2017, and I thank the community for their patience during these important works.