Leave Hinchinbrook Island Alone, Keith Williams!

I've written this post in FauxNew

However, I thought it worth of repeating in here. You all know how I feel about the resort on Hinchinbrook Island, of how close it is to my heart.

It was only a couple of nights ago, I discovered developer Keith Williams has purchased the resort at Cape Richards on Hinchinbrook Island.

I’m not some tree-hugging “greenie” but Hinchinbrook Island has a special place in my heart. Back in the mid-eighties I lived on the island and managed the small resort at Cape Richards. I would hate to see the resort area changed. Presently, the resort covers an area of only 22 acres. Please let’s leave it that way. Hinchinbrook Island is a national park. The island is 245 square miles in area. When I was at the resort the maximum number of people we could accommodate at one time was 45, although we advertised “maximum population 30″…thirty was a more comfortable number to cater for. A couple of years after I left, the number of cabins were increased to cater for a maximum 60 guests at any given time. Sixty guests is more than enough for this resort.

I know Margaret Thorsborne, personally. She is a wonderful elderly lady who loves Hinchinbrook Island and its surrounds dearly. She is the President of the Alliance to Save Hinchinbrook. I first met Margaret and her now late husband Arthur when I moved to the island. Throughout the years since then our paths have crossed quite a few times. I have also met Keith Williams a couple of times, when he used to stay in a motel I managed in Cardwell, a town on the mainland across from Hinchinbrook Island. Keith Williams is a very smart man, similar in age to Margaret Thorsborne, however Williams is more on the side of the fence of a developer than on the side of the fence to preserve Hinchinbrook Island resort.

Back when I was living on Hinchinbrook Island he was busy turning Hamilton Island into a clone of the Gold Coast, abounding with high-rise condominiums, canals, concrete and bitumen.

Let’s hope this is not allowed to happen at Cape Richards or anywhere else on Hinchinbrook Island. Leave the resort at Cape Richards remain as it is….low-key, natural and relaxed. We have enough high-powered resorts and hotels on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts and other island resorts.

There is only one Hinchinbrook Island Resort. The resort is unique amongst island resorts/retreats...please let's not change its uniqueness!

Margaret Thorsborne (Community Conservation)

Margaret, along with her late husband Arthur, has spent most of her life promoting and supporting environmental values. A founding member of the Community for Coastal and Cassowary Conservation (C4) in Mission Beach and of the Tully branch of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland, Margaret is well known for her selfless efforts in working to preserve the unique and outstanding World Heritage values of Hinchinbrook Island and the Hinchinbrook Channel. The Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Island was named in honour of Margaret and her husband.