Minutes of the Tourist Attraction Signposting Assessment Committee and the Sydney Region Subcommittee Wednesday 21 May 2014 at the Members Room, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre 30 Parke Street, Katoomba Members David Douglas Phil Oliver Maria Zannetides Regional Coordinator TASAC and Drive, Destination NSW Road User Guidance, Roads & Maritime Services (RMS) TASAC Secretariat Sydney Region Subcommittee Wendy Dollin Tourism Development & Events Co-Ordinator, Blue Mountains City Council Paul Page Greater Sydney Tourism Inc. Also present Kellie Barrow Tourism Manager, Lithgow Shire Council Michael Brischetto Carrington Hotel Maurice Cooper Director, Bygone Beautys Rosie Garthwin NPWS Apologies Sharon Swannell Executive Coordinator, Oberon Council AGENDA ITEMS 1. DELEGATIONS / PRESENTATIONS & REGIONAL SIGNPOSTING ISSUES 1.1 Katoomba Brewery Michael Brischetto spoke about the construction of a brewery, bar and 220 seat restaurant currently underway in a building at the rear of the Carrington Hotel. The following points were noted about the development, which will have frontage to Parke Street: Previous uses of the 1913 building were as a power station and a boiler room for the hotel. Brewing equipment is awaiting installation and commissioning. Brewery production is expected to commence in August with the bar/restaurant to become operational in early 2015. The brewery production area, which will be below the restaurant/bar level, will be separated from visitors by a handrail. Storyboards will be developed and placed adjacent to the production area to explain the brewing process. It is anticipated that 90 minute brewery tours will be offered daily, initially at 11 am with a second tour offered at 4 pm as the business becomes more established. The tours will cover the operation of the brewery, the ecologically sustainable aspects of the venture, Final 5 June 2014 1 of 11
including its cogeneration plant and water recycling measures and the history of the building. The name preferred for any tourist signposting is Brewery. It will be operated by the Katoomba Brewing Company and an identity is being developed for it separate from the Carrington Hotel. In response the Committee provided the following feedback: i. There is no room at the intersection of the Great Western Highway and Parke Street for the placement of any additional tourist signposting. However, signposting for the brewery could be located on Council s road network at the roundabout at the intersection of Parke Street and Bathurst Road. Wendy explained Council s policy that tourist attractions must satisfy TASAC s eligibility requirements in order to obtain tourist signposting on the local road network. ii. iii. Only the brewery element of the development is eligible for tourist signposting (i.e. not the restaurant or bar). The relevant category would be Primary and Secondary Industry and the quality and availability of written interpretive material about the brewing process will be an important consideration in determining whether the brewery meet s TASAC signposting requirements. Once or twice daily tours are not frequent enough to satisfy the requirement that guided tours be available for visitors during an attraction s opening hours. A technique that has worked well for other business applying in the Primary and Secondary Industry category has been to make a virtual tour available throughout the opening hours by means of a short film that can be viewed on a monitor near or adjacent to the production area. This would allow visitors who arrive outside tour times or when production is not taking place to see and learn how beer is made. 1.2 Bygone Beautys Teapot Museum, Leura Maurice Cooper updated the Committee about progress with the establishment of a teapot museum in Leura. The concept, which was first discussed with Maurice at the August 2007 TASAC meeting, is becoming a reality with construction currently underway. Maurice s presentation covered the following points: It is anticipated that the teapot museum will be competed in May 2015. The museum is being built at the site of Bygone Beautys antique shop and tearooms. The museum will have a floor area of approx. 15 m x 5.5 m with an additional similarly sized adjacent space serving as its foyer. The entire complex will be on one level with parking underneath. Maurice s historical teapot collection currently numbers 5,500 items. About 1,200 teapots will be exhibited in a permanent display at the museum. There will also be thematically based exhibitions that change monthly, e.g. children s tea sets or Dickens era teapots, comprising 50 to 400 teapots depending on the theme. Each teapot in the museum will be labelled with a descriptive caption giving its maker, year of manufacture and material. Final 5 June 2014 2 of 11
Other interpretive information being developed includes a DVD for viewing on a continuous loop and a digital application with associated Quick Response codes to allow visitors to access additional information about the museum items. To support the digital application a comprehensive searchable data base is being prepared to document the items in the historical collection. Teapots from the collection (which are not for sale) will also continue to be displayed in other parts of the complex, which will include a retail area, tearooms and a function room for events including teapot talks. The emphasis in the retail area will change from its current antiques focus to a focus on the sale of teapots that are not part of the historic collection and other tea related items. The name preferred for tourist signposting is Teapot Museum. Council has installed three small white on brown blade signs for the museum on local roads. The Committee noted with interest the considerable progress being made to establish the teapot museum and to present and interpret a significant proportion of the historic teapot collection to visitors. The following advice was provided: i. Signposting for the museum could be accommodated on the Great Western Highway for west bound traffic but it may be more difficult to achieve this for east bound traffic. ii. Museums eligible for tourist signposting must have a minimum floor area of 50 sq. m. iii. Maurice was asked to keep Lynn Collins, museums expert with Museums and Galleries NSW (MGNSW) and Blue Mountains City Council, up to date regarding the museum s development. Some years ago Lynn s predecessor Shar Jones provided Maurice with advice about museum establishment. It is important for Maurice to maintain a dialogue with Lynn because TASAC consults with MGNSW about all tourist signposting applications in the Museums category. It was noted that a meeting between Maurice and Lynn is being arranged. 1.3 Pearson s Lookout Kellie Barrow explained the improvements that Lithgow Council and RMS have carried out at Pearson s Lookout, including tarring of the car parking area and upgrading of the fencing. Council is now trustee for the lookout and it is planning to establish a boardwalk and interpretive signage to improve the tourism experience, after which time an application for tourist signposting could be expected. It was noted that RMS removed signposting for the lookout from the Castlereagh Highway about two years ago because access to the lookout was considered to be unsafe. Phil explained that despite the recent and planned improvements, traffic safety considerations would preclude future signposting being provided for westbound traffic and only signposting for eastbound traffic could be contemplated. Final 5 June 2014 3 of 11
1.4 Blue Mountains National Park signposting issues Rosie Garthwin expressed her agency s appreciation for a suite of new tourist signposting for Blue Mountains National Park installed by RMS in recent years. The purpose of the signs is to direct motorists to the various park entries such as those at Glenbrook, Wentworth Falls, Katoomba and Blackheath. However, about 20 per cent of the 200,000 visitors who enter the park at Glenbrook each year are looking for the Three Sisters at Katoomba. Most of these people are international visitors who do not fully appreciate the size of the park nor that it has multiple entries with many attractions that are only accessible from a particular entry. Phil explained that guide signage design is based on an assumption that motorists pre-plan their journeys to some extent. Also, RMS currently has no further plans or funding that would allow changes to signage for the park on its roads. It was noted that a large tourist sign for the park near Lapstone Hill includes information about the relative locations of the Glenbrook park entrance (2 km from the sign) and the Three Sisters (43 km from the sign). It was suggested that NPWS and Council consider whether it might be possible to install signs on the local road system after the turnoff from the Great Western Highway and before the park entrance to inform visitors of the location of the Three Sisters. David offered to visit the NPWS website and provide any comments regarding the information for people interested in visiting the Three Sisters. 1.5 Members report on site inspections The following observations arising from site inspections in the Katoomba area and environs the day before the meeting were noted: i. Signposting for tourist attractions on the Great Western Highway near Parke Street is complete but follow up signage on Council s road network, such as the roundabout at the intersection of Parke Street and Bathurst Road, is not adequate. RMS prepared sign designs for the roundabout in 2012 but Council has not implemented them. ii. A sign on the Great Western Highway near Scott Ave for Blue Mountains Drive is not at the start of the drive. Signage along the drive at some decision points appears to missing. It was suggested that Council review signage along the drive to ensure that it is adequately signposted on local roads as well as on the highway. 2. NEW TOURIST SIGNPOSTING APPLICATIONS 2.1 Murramarang National Park, north of Batemans Bay NPWS has applied for signposting of Murramarang National Park, which covers 12,000 ha between Kioloa and Batemans Bay and requested two locations for signposting. One is at the junction of the Princes Highway and Mt Agony Road (in Shoalhaven Shire) and the second is further south at the junction of the highway and Durras Drive (in Eurobodalla Shire). Mt Agony Road entry The Mt Agony Road entry point allow visitors to access the park s Pebbly Beach and Depot Beach precincts. These are accessible daily during all hours and are well developed for visitors with access to beaches, walking tracks, picnic facilities, BBQs, camping areas and toilets. Visitor Final 5 June 2014 4 of 11
information panels about the park are installed at Pebbly and Depot beaches and the Committee considered that signposting for the park from Mt Agony Road was warranted. Durras Road entry The application acknowledges that facilities for visitors in the southern part of the park accessible from Durras Road are generally less developed and low key. They include several beaches (Emily Miller Beach, Dark Beach, Myrtle Beach and others further south), some walking tracks (particularly Wasp Head Walk), small car parks, limited signage and basic toilet facilities at a single remote camping area at North Head Beach. A notable exception in this part of the park is Murramarang Resort leased by NPWS to a third party operator. The resort, which is open daily from 8 am to 10 pm from October to April and from 8 am to 6 pm from May to September, is located about 8 minutes driving time from the Durras Road entry. NPWS has entered into an agreement with the resort operator so that visitors to the park who are not intending to stay at the resort will be able to use some of its facilities, namely car parking, toilets, access to Mill Beach and to interpretive information about the park as a whole that is available at the resort s reception area. It is understood that NPWS would not have applied for signposting without this agreement because signposting for this part of the park would not be warranted without access to the specified facilities at the resort. The Committee identified the following concerns regarding the requested tourist signposting from Durras Road: i. The application does not demonstrate that there is sufficient directional signage within the park to guide visitors to the resort s car park. ii. There is no information for the public at the car park in the form of visitor information panels with text, maps and images to: Welcome visitors to Murramarang National Park. Explain the features of interest in the southern part of the park and how to find them. Explain the elements at the resort that are available to the general public (i.e. the car park, toilets, access to Mill Beach and interpretive information about the park) and how to find them. Inform visitors of the resort s opening hours, including seasonal variations. iii. iv. The proposal outlined in the application to use A-frame signage to direct visitors to features of interest at the resort and to employ a chalk board sign inside the reception area to display the opening hours is not acceptable. The park s promotional brochure and the promotional material for it on the NPWS website do not inform prospective visitors about the facilities that are accessible to the public at Murramarang Resort. If NPWS wishes to pursue signposting for the park from Durras Road the above matters need to be addressed so that TASAC can be assured that visitors using this entry would be adequately informed about the kind of National Parks experience that is available and how to access it. The Committee also wishes to avoid a scenario where visitors arrive at the resort and are uncertain about whether or not it is appropriate for them to enter. Final 5 June 2014 5 of 11
Decision: Action: Murramarang National Park is eligible for tourist signposting in the National Parks, State Conservation Areas, State Forests and Major Water Storage Areas category from the Mt Agony Road entry only. Secretariat to inform the applicant and RMS Southern Region as above 2.2 Royal National Park, Loftus An application has been lodged to upgrade existing dilapidated tourist signage for Royal National Park. The park will have a prominent role during the World Park Congress that will take place in November 2014 and upgraded signage would be a valuable addition. The park extends over 15,080 ha and was established in 1879 making it the second oldest national park in the world (after Yellowstone Park in the USA) and the first in Australia. It offers coastal and other walks, a variety of habitats (heath, rainforest, open woodlands and estuarine systems) and associated plant and animal communities, historic landscapes reflecting its Victorian era heritage, several beaches, picnic and BBQ areas, camping grounds, lookouts fishing, canoeing and boating. The park is open daily from 7.30 am to 8.30 pm. Interpretive information is available at the park s visitor centre at Audley (open daily from 8.30 am to 4 pm). Research undertaken by Roy Morgan in 2013 indicates that the park receives more than 4 million visitors per annum. Given this level of visitation and its daily opening times the park also satisfies the requirements of TASAC s State Significant category. This means that signage may be provided more remotely from the attraction than would otherwise be allowed, subject to the availability of suitable sites for the installation of signs. NPWS has indicated that it does not support the retention of separate tourist signposting for a boatshed at Audley that is co-located with signposting for the park at the intersection of the Pacific Highway and Farnell Avenue. The signposting for the boatshed has become dilapidated and will be removed as part of the process of improving signage for the park as a whole. It was noted that in October 2008 TASAC determined that an application from the operator of the boatshed was ineligible for signposting. Decision: Action: Royal National Park is eligible for tourist signposting in the National Parks, State Conservation Areas, State Forests and Major Water Storage Areas category. It is also eligible for more remote signposting in the State Significant category Secretariat to advise the applicant and RMS Sydney Region as above. 2.3 Myall Lakes National Park (withdrawn) The Committee noted that NPWS (Justine McClymont) has asked that an application it submitted for additional signposting for Myall Lakes National Park on and from the Pacific Highway be withdrawn until further notice. Final 5 June 2014 6 of 11
3. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES OF 16 APRIL 2014 The minutes of TASAC s meeting of Wednesday 16 April 2014 with the Northern Region Subcommittee in Nambucca were confirmed. The Committee members and Secretariat advised that they had completed all the actions attributed to them from the meeting. 4. MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS 4.1 Update on Orange Wine Tourism Region proposal Glenn Mickle, Tourism Manager at Orange City Council, provided supplementary information in support of Council s application for the Orange Wine Tourism Region signage proposal. This included photos of opening hours signs at the entries of eight wineries in the region; photos of visitor information panels installed at off-road information bays at two of the entries to the region; and updated information about the wineries in the region and their opening hours. Details of the location of all the information bays have been requested along with clarification of some apparent inconsistencies regarding the opening hours of some wineries. Action: Secretariat to follow up with Glenn. 4.2 Pilliga Forest, advice from RMS At the February TASAC meeting NPWS (Patricia Wilkinson) expressed interest in gaining tourist signposting for a number of attractions it has developed in the Pilliga Forest near Coonabarabran. These include the Salt Caves, a lookout tower (a metal tower with a staircase and viewing platform) and Sculptures in in the Scrub. The area is characterised by long lengths of unsealed roads numerous creek crossings and poor mobile phone coverage. In the circumstances RMS was asked to visit the area and provide advice to TASAC about the condition of access roads to the NPWS attractions. Marty Cassell and Joshua Parkin of RMS Western Region inspected the access roads on 9 May 2014 and the following advice was provided in a letter to the Secretariat: i. The inspection was undertaken in a Holden Commodore station wagon. ii. iii. iv. The access roads inspected were Burma Road, Rocky Road, No.1 Break Road and Top Crossing Road. Burma Road is a single lane road with varying surface conditions and a number of creek and gully crossings that are not signposted. The vehicle had trouble negotiating this road and it bottomed out on a number of occasions. Rocky Road, No.1 Break Road and Top Crossing Road are of suitable width but road conditions vary. Caution and complete attention were required to travel these roads, even for experienced drivers. The vehicle bottomed out a number of times due to heavy rutting of the wheel paths. v. There was very limited mobile phone coverage in these remote areas. Final 5 June 2014 7 of 11
vi. Due to the adverse road conditions at the time of inspection, which are likely to worsen in the event of rainfall, including the number of creek crossings and inconsistent signage for crests, dips and causeways, Roads and Maritime does not support signposting of the attractions from the Newell Highway. It was noted that the concerns expressed above are similar to ones noted by TASAC Committee members in January 2009 after driving through the Pilliga Forest the day prior to a meeting in Narrabri where it was decided to remove Tourist Drive 2, which traversed the forest. The recent RMS inspection indicates that road conditions within the Pilliga Forest continue to be of concern and consequently neither RMS nor TASAC would be able to support signposting of attractions within the forest from the Newell Highway. In the circumstances NPWS should consider promoting the destinations via digital media and through its visitor centre in Baradine. Action: Secretariat to advise NPWS as above. 4.3 Cooma Cottage Since December 2013 TASAC has been endeavouring to confirm the eligibility or otherwise of Cooma Cottage for existing tourist signposting on Yass Valley Way, which has become faded and unserviceable. Maria spoke with Richard Silink, Director Trust Properties of the National Trust, on 15 May who indicated that Cooma Cottage was not currently in a position to demonstrate compliance with the requirements for tourist signposting. Written confirmation of the position was requested and once received, RMS South West region will be asked to remove the existing signposting. Richard also indicated that the Trust planned to make further improvements to the cottage after which it expected that the cottage would meet the requirements for tourist signposting Note: The requested written confirmation was received from Mr Silink on 26 May and RMS South West was asked to remove the existing signage. 4.4 Molong Museum Molong Museum has faded tourist signposting that provides guidance in only one direction. The museum operator, the Molong Historic Society, was asked to submit a new application to allow the signage to be reviewed but no application has been received. In a follow up call from Maria to the President of the Society on 9 May it was confirmed that the museum was only open once a month on every fourth Sunday and on some long weekends for unbooked visitors and at other times by appointment. In addition, the Society is unable to increase the museum s opening hours because it is run on a voluntary basis. In the circumstances it is not possible for the museum to retain its existing signposting and it was noted that RMS Western Region had been informed of the situation and asked to remove the existing signposting. Final 5 June 2014 8 of 11
4.5 Historic Tavern Wellington The operator of a tavern near Wellington that has non-standard tourist signposting for Historic Tavern Lion of Waterloo Established 1842 on the Mitchell Highway has not responded to two letters (on 7 March by registered post and on 1 May by fax) requesting that a tourist signposting application be submitted to allow the property s eligibility for signposting to be assessed. In the circumstances it is not possible for the property to retain its existing signposting and it was noted that RMS Western Region had been informed of the situation and asked to remove the existing signposting. 4.6 Lake Burrendong Park, near Wellington Marty Cassell of RMS Western Region met with Jason Kirk the operator of Lake Burrendong Park earlier this month. Jason is preparing a signposting application as requested by TASAC but is awaiting approval from the Lands Department to act on their behalf for the application process. 4.7 Short Sheep Wines, Mudgee On 6 May additional information was received from the applicant providing evidence of interpretive information at the cellar door comprising a wine tasting wheel, tasting notes templates, a winemaking records book available for visitors to peruse and a display of 12 framed and labelled photos highlighting aspects of the winemaking process. As well, a summary of the information provided during winery tours (the tasting area is adjacent to the winemaking area and all visitors have the opportunity to view it) was submitted The applicant also clarified the uses of the various promotional brochures that were previously provided. Currently, a post card size brochure is used to promote the business at external locations such as the Mudgee visitor information centre. This gives the opening hours / days, street name but not the street number. The winery s brochures are being revised and an undertaking was given that the street number would be added to all future brochures. Copies would be submitted for TASAC records when available. A site inspection report is awaited to enable the application to be finalised. 4.8 Calabria Family Wines, Griffith On 9 May additional information was received from the applicant addressing the outstanding matters noted at the March meeting relating to the installation of a new entry sign and interpretive material. On 14 May a site inspection report supporting the application was received from Greg Lawrence, Manager Tourism and Economic Development, Griffith City Council. On this basis, the application was finalised and a letter issued to the operator on 15 May advising that Calabria Family Wines was eligible for tourist signposting. RMS South West Region was similarly advised. Decision: TASAC noted that Calabria Family Wines was eligible for tourist signposting in the Wineries category. Final 5 June 2014 9 of 11
5. INQUIRIES RECEIVED SINCE LAST MEETING The following inquiries received in the period since the last meeting were noted: 5.1 Calabash Bay Lodge, Hornsby LGA 5.2 Robyn Rowe Chocolates, Murrumbateman 5.3 Boer War Memorial, Boorowa 5.4 Crystal Castle, Mullumbimby 5.5 Meroogal House Museum, Nowra (RMS) 5.6 Fleet Air Arm Museum (RMS) 5.7 Cathedral Rock National Park (RMS) 6. POLICY ISSUES 6.1 Tourist Drive 12 Wollondilly Diane Gardiner, Economic Development Team Leader at Wollondilly Council contacted Maria about missing signage for Tourist Drive 12. However, records provided by RMS in 2011 at the commencement of the current review of NSW tourist drives do not list such a drive. It appears that the drive mostly follows the old Hume Highway that was bypassed some years ago and is now known as Camden Valley Way. Action: Phil to investigate and report back. 6.2 Proposal for Cowra signage audit Arabella Fingleton, Tourism Manager at Cowra Shire, contacted Maria about existing tourist signposting in Cowra. Arabella will review the signposting and attend the July TASAC meeting in Young to discuss her findings. 7. OTHER BUSINESS 7.1 TASAC Meeting Schedule Please refer to Attachment 1 for the schedule of meetings for the next six months. The next Sydney Region meeting will be held on 12 November 2014 at a location to be determined. 8. NEXT MEETING Wednesday 18 June 2014 in Singleton with the Hunter Region Subcommittee. The meeting concluded at 1 pm. Final 5 June 2014 10 of 11
Attachment 1 TASAC Meeting Schedule Region Location Date 2014 Hunter Singleton 18 June 2014 South West Young 16 July 2014 Western Forbes 20 August 2014 Southern Wollongong 17 September 2014 Northern Ballina 15 October 2014 Sydney TBA 12 November 2014 N / A DNSW head office 10 December 2014 Final 5 June 2014 11 of 11