Enhancing tourism planning in New South Wales

Abstract

The promotional impact of the Sydney 2000 Olympics will stimulate worldwide interest in New South Wales (NSW) as a visitor destination. The Tourism Forecasting Council of Australia (TCA) has predicted strong growth in international visitor arrivals to Australia due to the Games, including an additional 132,000 additional visitors between 1997 and 2000 and an additional 1.5 million from 1998 to 2004 Forecast, November 1998, The Tourism Forecasting Council, November 1998, pg 23. With this increase in visitor numbers (and coupled with increased demand from the domestic markets), pressure will be placed on the current tourism infrastructure within the State. Already, new hotels are being built, alterations to transport infrastructure made and new attractions developed. While this expansion is anticipated to meet the demand, events such as the Olympic Games highlight the need to have a planning system in place in New South Wales that regulates the pace and type of tourism development and that recognises all the impacts that tourism development can cause. Tourism development at a local government level has traditionally focussed on the provision of public infrastructure (such as community services and facilities). However, with increasing tourism growth to New South Wales and the realisation by councils of the economic benefit that tourism can bring (especially in those areas where traditional industries have ceased), the types of development being proposed have now broadened (i.e. theme parks). With this expansion in tourism infrastructure comes an associated expansion in the range of impacts. The focus of this thesis is the need for a more comprehensive planning system at a local government level in New South Wales, when assessing tourism development applications. Current legislation has tended to concentrate on the environmental impacts of tourism development in regard to land use and zoning, with the economic benefits being highlighted by the developers before planning approval is sought. Social impacts however, have tended to be overlooked in the planning process. As noted by Hall (1999), concerns over social impacts are secondary to the attention that is paid to the economic benefits of tourism. However, when considering the adverse effects that tourism development may cause, the potential for negative social impacts is far greater. At present, the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act (EPA) 1979 is the only mandatory planning mechanism at a local level in New South Wales that regulates the nature of tourism development The author also realises that development applications must satisfy zoning requirements. Through the EPA, Local Environmental Plans are prepared which provide a means of regulating land use at the local government level - however, their ability to provide a means of assessing the social impacts of tourism development are at present limited. Section 90 of the EPA stipulates that local councils should consider the social implications of a development application, but provides no framework within which this can be accomplished. Similarly, should a developer be required to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of a development application, there are no guidelines for how social impacts should be assessed. This thesis proposes that it is better to plan in advance for the social impacts of tourism development than attempt to find solutions retrospectively. While acknowledging that existing legislation goes some way towards identifying potential impacts, a more focussed and tangible approach is required. A planning model has been developed in this thesis, that provides a framework by which the social impacts of a development application can be measured. It is based on Social Impact Assessment (Finsterbusch et al, 1983), a concept that was developed to attempt to quantify the social impacts of tourism development, normally through some form of cost-benefit analysis. Developed in the United States, it has as its premise the need for consultation between stakeholders. The model proposed in this thesis is based on: ongoing consultation between local government, developers and the community; a contribution by the developer to the local community; the formation of a planning team to assess the social impacts of the proposal; a matrix, by which the impacts of a proposal can be assessed; public consultation; and a monitoring process. To make the model effective in tourism planning in New South Wales, it will be important that it is incorporated as part of the mandatory planning process. This will ensure that the social impacts of tourism are identified early in the planning process and that a form of development is encouraged that has buy in from all stakeholders. This could be achieved through an amendment to the EPA at a State level in New South Wales, so that it is included as a mandatory requirement of the planning process. In addition, it is recommended that local councils in New South Wales also prepare some form of tourism plan (similar in function to the LEP), by which all tourism development applications could be adjudged. Gunn (1988) stated that continuous tourism planning must be integrated with all other planning for social and economic development, and should be modeled as an interactive system. Achieving co-ordination between government agencies, between the public and private sector, and among private enterprises requires the development of new mechanisms and processes for incorporating the diverse elements of the tourism system. The advancement of a model for assessing the social impacts of tourism development provides a means of achieving such co-ordination and of ensuring appropriate tourism development in New South Wales. The structure of this thesis includes discussion on: tourism and the various forms of tourism planning (Chapter 2); local government involvement in tourism planning in New South Wales and the relevant legislation (Chapter 3); the social impacts of tourism and problems with the measurement thereof (Chapter 4); social impact assessment as a tool for quantifying the impacts of tourism development (Chapter 5); the proposed model for assessing the social impacts of tourism development in New South Wales (Chapter 6); conclusions on the development and implementation of the model (Chapter 7).