Helicopter developer to seek federal approval to fly helicopter to remote Lake Malbena to repair historic Halls Hut

It is a small cabin located on an island, surrounded by a lake, in a wild and isolated corner of the central plateau of Tasmania.

Halls Hut is one of the most isolated structures in the state, accessible only by walking three hours cross-country from the nearest defined footpath and then crossing the water of Lake Malbena.

The island’s isolation and tranquility have attracted generations of hikers and fishermen – and it’s what led Reg Hall to build the structure in the 1950s, to escape his own wartime experiences.

With the help of several men, they used their bush carpentry skills and materials brought on horseback – and some air-dropped near the island – to build the small timber-framed cabin.

This stands in stark contrast to typical tourist images of the Tasmanian wilderness.

“Halls Hut’s position, set back from the island’s shoreline in the bush, does not lend itself to the kind of romantic image often used to sell Tasmania’s ‘wilderness’ to tourists,” it reads on the heritage list.

“There are no ‘perfect’ postcard images of Halls Hut…until recently only the hiking and fishing communities knew about it.

But the condition of the cabin is deteriorating.

The subfloor has serious problems, the membrane under the roof is broken, the tar paper is rotting and the lack of a gutter has caused significant water damage.

Making repairs has become a political issue, involving a proposed tourism business, maintaining wilderness values, and whether such a remote site can be sensitively repaired and restored.

Tourism developer still seeking federal approval

In 2016, Reg Hall’s daughter, Liz McQuilkin, transferred her interest in the Halls Island Crown license to fly fisherman Daniel Hackett.

Parliament was told last week it was his understanding that “he would look after Halls Hut”.

Mr Hackett proposed a “premium” tourism plan, including a permanent camp on Halls Island with “cultural interpretation activities” and access by helicopter flying 11 minutes from Derwent Bridge, which would land on exposed rocks near the lake Malbena.

Per year, he wants to be able to make 30 travel reservations for a maximum flight duration of 48 hours, over a 60-day window.

That project requires federal environmental approval to move forward, because of the impact a helicopter has on wilderness values, but it has drawn anger from hikers, fishermen and environmental groups.

This approval process has been repeatedly blocked, most recently due to the department’s request for additional information on impacts on Aboriginal cultural heritage, which was opposed by major Tasmanian Aboriginal groups.

It has also faced legal challenges and Mr Hackett’s company – Wild Drake – is in liquidation due to legal costs incurred by the Wilderness Society.

It has a lease on Halls Island – which was only publicly revealed in 2018 – which was recently extended by Tasmania’s Parks Minister Nick Duigan.

The condition of the cabin remains poor.

Mr. Hackett will now seek federal permission to carry out major repairs – using the helicopter.

Authorization requested to bring equipment by helicopter

In a letter seen by the ABC, Mr Hackett wrote to the Federal Environment Department saying he would make a self-referral for permission to fly and land a helicopter in Tasmania’s wilderness area.

It would follow the same flight path as its proposed tourism project and use much of the same documentation as its other federal approval process.

“It is now necessary to create a separate self-referral for the use of aerial access to enable restoration, regular maintenance and public and private use of the heritage hut,” the letter said.

Mr Hackett was granted heritage approval in 2022 for preliminary investigation work into the subfloor, roof and vegetation of the site, and continued to highlight the need for helicopter access to carry out the work.

He argued a helicopter would be needed to remove the damaged gutter, bring replacement logs to the site and materials to repair the roof.

His letter goes on to question the federal approval process, describing federal environmental advice as containing “major errors or statements” and arguing that his helicopter proposal has “clearly less impact” than other flyovers in wilderness, which are carried out by the Ministry of Parks and Wildlife. Service.

A ministry spokesperson said the ministry was awaiting further information regarding Aboriginal cultural heritage and had not yet received an inquiry regarding Halls Hut.

Fly fisherman says shack maintenance doesn’t require a helicopter

Fly fisherman and author Greg French first took Mr Hackett to Halls Island in 2014 and introduced him to Ms McQuilkin.

But he quickly became one of the leading voices opposing the tourism project when its “scale” was made public in 2018, while Ms McQuilkin is said to feel “betrayed” by what has happened since.

In March, Mr French argued that helicopter access was not necessary to carry out maintenance at Halls Hut.

“Rudimentary maintenance of the gutter system would have prevented much of the deterioration that has occurred over the past decade,” he writes.

“Inside the cabin, rudimentary maintenance of the under-roof would have avoided condensation problems and must be repaired immediately.

He questioned why no maintenance had been carried out in the past decade and, earlier this month, said he would transport the gutter out of the wild himself for Mr Hackett – s he was terminating his license on the cabin.

The two men appeared to disagree on whether this was permissible or practical.

Lake Malbena on list of issues awaiting federal decision

The Halls Island and Lake Malbena helitourism issue is just one of many federal environmental approvals that have slowed to a near-stop in Tasmania.

The islands issue is largely a legacy of former premier Will Hodgman’s expressions of interest process for tourism proposals in Tasmania’s wilderness areas, but has become an issue for federal minister Tanya Plibersek.

She also faces decisions on salmon farming at Macquarie Harbour, the Robbins Island wind farm and a tailings dam for MMG’s Rosebery mine.