Parliamentary record : Part I debates (16 August 1990)
Debates for 5th Assembly 1987 - 1990; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 5th Assembly 1987 - 1990
1990-08-16
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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https://hdl.handle.net/10070/220304
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/699527
DEBATES - Thursday 16 August 1990 Turning to the member for Koolpinyah, the Aboriginal living areas are freehold properties excised from the Gregory National Park and the Conservation Commission has no control over such areas except in respect of general environmental rules. However, camping within the park will be controlled by by-laws under the Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act. Identification of the 1 imestone caves ;n the Gregory National Park has been undertaken recently, with the assistance of the Operation Raleigh students. Information will now beut il i sed to ensure proper management of this area through inclusion of a proposed draft plan of management. I hope that answers the honourable member'S questions. I turn to the matters raised by the member for Wanguri. He raised the matter of planned management. It is an hoary, old chestnut. Mr Bell: That is a tautology, Steve. Mr HATTON: Perhaps the member for MacDonnell can record that for the Christmas occasion. I would like to deal with this matter of plans of management and the strategic planning that is taking place within the Conservation Commission. The member for Wanguri is not in the Chamber. If he takes the time to read. the Parl iamentary Record, it may save him considerable effort and worry in future when it comes to such concerns. I promise him that it is not a major concern. It is true that, although only 4 plans of management are currently in force, there are a further 19 draft plans of management at various stages of the approval process. It is anticipated that a steady stream of plans will be finalised in the coming.months. The Watarrka National Park Plan of Management, which was tabled in the May sittings, is expected to come into force during these sittings. The planning task in the Territory is quite different from that which, prevails in the states because the Territory park estate is sti 11 actively expanding. Such planning effort has been and continues to be directed at strategic plans for large areas aimed at providing a balance between conservation and recreation, defining purposes of various parks and reserves, and guiding the acquisition process. In recent years, the following comprehensive strategic plans have been completed: the West MacDonnells Strategic Plan; the Top End Wetlands Strategic Plan, the Tennant Creek District Strategic Plan, the Pine Creek/Daly River Strategic Plan and the Gulf Country Strategic Plan. Because these strategies set the stage for all Conservation Commission deve 1 opments, they have been comp 1 eted at the expense of formal plans of management on the basis of the fact that such plans of management will not be particularly meaningful without adequate definition of context and purpose. However, now that the commission's strategic planning is well advanced, a redirection of effort towards the production of formal plans of management has been implemented as will become evident as 19 plans of management make thei r way through the system in the comi ng months. In addition, plans of management for all the commission's parks and reserves have been programmed through to 1993. These will be based largely on existing area statements which have been completed for 95% of the Territory's park estate and which identify key values and management issues and provide a context and direction for each park or reserve. Aspects of the Territory's park planning system have been closely imitated by the states. Members may be interested to know that, recently, the Queensland National Parks Service has adopted a planning system modelled 9922