Camping bookings released, new management plan...
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Wilsons Prom Community Newsletter
Winter 2023
Wilsons Promontory is an Aboriginal cultural landscape. Parks Victoria respects the deep and continuing connection that Traditional Owners have to these lands and waters and will continue to work together with them to care for Country.
This newsletter has updates on what's happening at the Prom and how to get involved.
Please share it and sign up to the email list here. Stay up to date with community engagement via Engage Victoria.
Help us protect and improve the Prom
Share your thoughts on a new management plan - stage one closes 16 July
We’re excited to have started the process to develop a new management plan for the Prom landscape.
The management plan will set out how Wilson Promontory National Park and its surrounding marine areas are protected, visited and celebrated for the next 15 years.
It’s an important time to be developing a new plan, with climate change presenting many management challenges. The increasing risk and intensity of storms, bushfires and coastal erosion will affect how the Prom’s environment, park infrastructure, cultural heritage places, and emergency responses are managed.
Similarly, increasing visitor numbers and interests requires an updated management approach. The plan will explore how to balance recreation and access to nature with conservation.
Meanwhile, there are great opportunities to work with Traditional Owners to better identify and protect Aboriginal cultural places and celebrate the landscape’s cultural stories and heritage.
Thanks to those of you who have had a say so far – over survey, or at a workshop online or in Foster. We have heard great ideas, and started the discussion about the complex challenges and opportunities for the Prom.
Learn more and have a say before 16 July. Visit Engage Victoria to find more information, complete an online survey or register for a workshop. We will be at Tidal River this Saturday 1 July from 10am-1pm so you can ‘drop-in’ to the Visitor Centre and ask questions or share ideas.
There’ll be further opportunities to help shape the future of the Prom, so be sure to also subscribe for updates from Engage Victoria.
2023-2024 camping and accommodation bookings open from 4 July!
2023-24 camping bookings released in first week of July
Get prepared for your next getaway at the Prom (and beyond!)
As you may have heard, we’ve removed the ballot for bookings at the Tidal River Campground. This means that you can now book every bookable campground across Victoria instantly – no more waiting to hear if a ballot application was successful or not.
To make sure you are prepared for bookings opening on 4 July, we have created a How to Book Camping Online guide. This includes written step-by-step instructions and an instructional video. Check it out so you know exactly how the online booking system works and are fully prepared.
Here are the key dates to remember.
Bookings for campgrounds and roofed accommodation managed by Parks Victoria will open from 4 July at 11am (AEST). This applies for bookings between 1 September 2023 until 6 October 2024 for the following locations.
- Tuesday 4 July - Wilsons Promontory campsites (including Tidal River)
- Wednesday 5 July - Wilsons Promontory roofed accommodation
- Thursday 6 July - Banksia Bluff (Cape Conran Coastal Park); Johanna Beach, Blanket Bay and Aire River West (Great Otway National Park); Cooks Mill (Cathedral Range State Park); Lake Catani (Mount Buffalo National Park) campgrounds.
- Friday 7 July - Overnight hike/journey campsites. This includes Grampians Peaks Trail, Great Ocean Walk, Great South West Walk, Glenelg River Trail, Wilsons Prom Southern Circuit (including Lightstation) and Wilderness Coast Walk.
- Monday 10 July – all other bookable campsites and roofed accommodation across Victoria.
Thanks to the upgraded online booking system, we've made booking easier with advanced filtering and instant confirmation.
Other things to be aware of for Prom bookings:
New changeover days during summer peak season
The Prom will use Friday as the set changeover day for camping and cabin bookings during summer peak season (Friday 22 December 2023 to Friday 26 January 2024). The standard 7-night minimum/14-night maximum stay for camping and 7-night maximum for cabins will remain.
For group lodges, huts and units the changeover day will be Thursday from 21 December 2023 to 25 January 2024 with standard 7-night minimum/7-night maximum stay.
This will ease traffic congestion over weekends in the park. The changeover day was previously Saturday which is the busiest day for traffic in the park.
For other questions or information please see the Bookings Information page on the Parks Victoria website.
Little Oberon Bay Walk reopens
Major storms and floods hit Wilsons Prom in 2021. They destroyed infrastructure and caused impacts that are still being worked through.
This included at Little Oberon Bay. The track endured significant erosion, and sand moved significantly to create a five-meter ledge between the track and the beach.
After completing insurance processes and assessments, Parks Victoria has now completed the recovery works, re-instating tracks and creating new stairs to the beach.
Above: A new staircase taking walkers down to the beach.
Above: Repaired section of track using natural materials.
Wilsons Prom Revitalisation
Feedback heard on Tidal River upgrade
The Victorian Government has invested $23 million to help improve the visitor experience at the Prom, and help turn the national park into Victoria’s largest conservation sanctuary.
This Wilsons Prom Revitalisation project has a number of upgrades to boost the visitor experience. These include new accommodation at Tidal River and the northern boundary of the park, an upgraded Wildlife Walk, a new track to connect Tidal River with Mount Oberon, and a revamp of the Tidal River visitor area.
Earlier this year, we were out-and-about in the park to hear people’s thoughts on that visitor area upgrade. Draft designs were shared that proposed a covered outdoor space for people to sit and relax, while retaining the existing buildings. Better connections to surrounding areas and a new toilet block with a Changing Places facility were also part of the designs.
Above: Illustrative examples of the proposed Visitor Centre upgrade.
We heard some great feedback in-person and online, with more than 280 contributions. Responses supported improvements to the visitor area that would maintain a natural feel. The toilet upgrades, undercover spaces and seating drew strong support. Park information and interpretation were aspects that people wanted improved.
A summary report of this feedback is now available on Engage Victoria.
Elsewhere in the park, the Revitalisation Project will be improving accommodation options. To help deliver this, we’ve just appointed UWOOD Projects to design and build three new cabins at Tidal River. Situated on existing clear ground alongside similar accommodation, the cabins will accommodate up to eight people each, improving availability at a park that records near 100 per cent occupancy rates during peak periods.
Planning and assessments continue across the other parts of this major project. Most on-ground works are expected during 2024 and 2025. They will be phased to take into account seasonal factors, land conditions and market availability.
Did you know: The Prom turns 125!
Next month marks the 125th anniversary of Wilsons Promontory National Park.
On 7 July 1898, land was ‘temporarily reserved’ from sale so that a national park could be created. From the government gazette that year:
“Wilson’s Promontory—Site of a National Park, 91,000 acres more or less in the county of Buln Buln, Parishes of Beek Beek, Warreen, Kulk and Tallang…”
Seven years later, the land reservation was made permanent.
We’re proud to be managing the national park today and as we look ahead to developing a new management plan that will outline how it’s protected, visited and celebrated in the future.
We do so recognising the park is part of a broader Aboriginal cultural landscape and respect the deep and continuing connection that Traditional Owners have to these lands and waters, and their ongoing role in caring for Country.
The Prom Sanctuary
Supporting the survival of the eastern bristlebird
Through the Prom Sanctuary project, Wilsons Promontory National Park will become a 50,000-hectare climate change safe haven. A place where Victoria’s rich wildlife and habitats are freed from the pressures of introduced predators and pests.
Supported by a fence at the park’s northern boundary, the sanctuary will be achieved through programs like large-scale invasive species control, large-scale habitat restoration and threatened species recovery programs.
Headlining recent species recovery programs has been the translocation of 10 eastern bristlebirds in May.
Above: An eastern bristlebird. Credit: Marcia Riederer – Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.
The eastern bristlebird is a nationally threatened species, listed as critically endangered in Victoria with fewer than 200 estimated remaining in the state.
This small plucky golden-brown bird gets its name from the highly modified feathers around its beak which look like tiny whiskers and help it grab fast moving insects.
Establishing a new and resilient population will help support the species’ survival. Eastern bristlebirds are under threat from habitat loss, and predators like foxes and feral cats. Before the Wilsons Prom program, the only known Victorian eastern bristlebirds were in Cape Howe, east of Mallacoota.
Above: Careful handling of bristlebirds by experts helps minimise stress.
This year’s translocation follows the release of bristlebirds in autumn 2022 and is part of three-year program. The new population will be supported by increased predator control by our local team and monitoring of bird numbers. Detailed fire planning will also manage the heathland habitat that the birds call home.
For now, we’ll be keeping an eye on the birds to see how they have adjusted to their new home. Longer term, the hope is they are breeding successfully, and have created a resilient and self-sustaining population.
Stay up to date and involved
To learn more about what's going on at the Prom, visit www.parks.vic.gov.au/projects call 13 1963 or email engage@park.vic.gov.au. Register for emails here