‘Risk to most treasured place’: battle over tourism development rules on Phillip Island

For almost 70 years, Anne Davie has been farming and rehabilitating her land at Phillip Island. In that time, she has earned a Medal of the Order of Australia for her community and environmental efforts, which includes helping plant 20,000 trees on her carbon-neutral farm with husband Bob.

But few things have made Davie prouder than watching her children carry on the family farming tradition on their property at Ventnor.

“They share the love of this part of Millowl,” she said, using the Bunurong name for Phillip Island.

Davie and her husband started dairy farming at Phillip Island in 1956 and later moved into beef and other forms of agriculture. Today, she keeps a hand in the family farming enterprise but spends most of her time working with community, environmental and reconciliation groups.

However, Davie is among the local farmers, councillors and community advocates who fear tourism developments may soon steamroll the island’s rural identity and agricultural sector that have developed over generations.

Their concerns centre on the contentious Bass Coast Unlocking Rural Tourism Strategy, which the previous council adopted in 2023. The strategy recommended investigating areas in the farm zone to be rezoned for rural activities, including large-scale tourism developments.

Davie said big tourism developments in farmland would forever alter the region’s rural and environmental character.

“It would put the farming community at risk.”

Davie said farming and tourism were both essential parts of Phillip Island’s identity and economy and needed to be protected.

“I’m confident they can co-exist and enhance each other.”

The council has not yet implemented the unlocking tourism strategy, and opponents hope it will be withdrawn before it can be enacted.

At a council meeting this week, Bass Coast Shire councillor Tim O’Brien moved a motion requesting a report on the tourism strategy and how it would impact the region. The council will consider the report in November.

He said the tourism strategy was at odds with the state government’s decision to declare Bass Coast a distinctive area and landscape, which is designed to protect both unique character and the environment in significant parts of Victoria.

O’Brien hopes the report will result in the council scrapping the strategy.

“It poses risk, through encroachment, to some of our most treasured places, hinterland and shorelines,” he said. “No farmland is safe.”

O’Brien is also concerned that allowing big tourism developments on agricultural land could drive up the value of farms, which would raise their rates. He is also concerned the strategy could result in land banking.

The council declined to comment on O’Brien’s motion. But officers’ comments in the meeting agenda said the tourism strategy was prepared as a land use study to investigate the reasons for limited or inappropriate investment in designated tourism areas of the Bass Coast Shire.

The council pointed to the strategy’s argument that farming and rural activity zones were inadequate for supporting tourism uses, and that large-scale developments would be best delivered in special use zones. However, its critics are also concerned about the recommendation to introduce a “market-driven policy” to help determine the location of tourism developments.

Although there are some existing special use zones on the island, more would be created if the strategy were adopted in its current form. The Phillip Island Motor Racing Track, Inverloch RACV and Silverwater Resort San Remo are all within existing special use zones.

Tourism is core to the shire’s economy, and Phillip Island is among the most visited regions in Australia. Figures supplied by tourism advocacy group Destination Phillip Island showed total expenditure reached $875 million last year, which is a 2 per cent decline on 2023. Visitors spent a total of 2.86 million nights on the island in 2024 – a 10 per cent decrease on the year before.

Destination Phillip Island general manager Kim Storey said Phillip Island needed to encourage more visitors to stay overnight rather just making short day trips.

“I think it’s about developing more boutique experiences and accommodation,” Storey said.

She said her group wanted to see appropriate development that respected Phillip Island’s natural character.

“The board is not interested in mass development on Phillip Island,” she said. “We would hope there are appropriate planning structures in place to ensure that.”

While the tourism strategy recommends considering rezoning some farmland for development, it also includes a recommendation to rezone rural activity zoned land for agriculture where tourism or other activities appear unlikely to occur.

Local conservationist Linda Cuttriss said the unlocking tourism strategy would allow medium- and large-scale tourism developments to spoil the rural landscape, which would destroy what makes the area so special in the first place.

“Phillip Island’s farmland is crucial to the island’s character and its magnificent scenic coastal landscapes,” she said.

Despite growing pressures on Phillip Island’s natural environment and farmland from development, Anne Davie insisted she is optimistic for the future and believes looming challenges can be overcome through strong community commitment.

“Our family regard it as a privilege to care for land in Millowl.”

But she believes the tourism strategy threatens more than Phillip Island’s agriculture sector. She said overdevelopment would damage her community’s wellbeing.

“We need the open space for our mental health as well as the visual experience,” she said. “How lucky we are if we can conserve what is precious.”