A group of investors are proposing a track to a remote wilderness lake at the base of Federation Peak in Tasmania’s South-West.

They have developed a consortium called the Geeves Effect, and are pushing for a 2.5 km track extension to ‘provide walkers with views of Lake Geeves’.

According to reports in The Mercury, they say that ‘the bushwalk could rival Cradle Mountain and Three Capes Tracks as a tourism magnet’.

The Bob Brown Foundation opposes what it calls an ‘invasion of the citadel of Tasmania’s wilderness by private enterprise using public money’, warning that it would open the door to private development.

“The so-called Geeves Effect plan for a 2.5 kilometre track at Lake Geeves, under Federation Peak, has morphed into a 20 kilometre track and an ‘eco-hub’ with motels, luxury campsites and roads – all at public expense,” Bob Brown said today.

“The business interests branding up this proposal now want millions of public money to bring their commercial plan to fruition,” he said.

“The impact on the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, famous for its remoteness and naturalness, would be core degradation,” he said.

“Federation Peak should be left remote, wild and intact,” Brown said.

“There are much better places, including the Styx Valley of the Giants (with existing road access inside the World Heritage Area), Recherche Bay and the Tarkine, for increasing visitor enjoyment of spectacular Tasmanian scenery,” Brown said.

“The TWWHA must not be degraded,” Brown said.

[IMAGE of Federation Peak by Bob Brown].