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The growing popularity of Rottnest Island has seen the Western Australian Government release a new five-year development plan to open up more of the location and increase visitation.

With a previously set target to attract 800,000 visitors by 2030 almost exceeded last year, the draft of the latest Rottnest Island Management Plan (RIMP) has been released for public comment.

Encapsulating the Rottnest Island Authority's approach to managing the Island and its associated waters, the RIMP 2020-24 sets out four strategic focus areas: to diversify the visitor base and enhance visitor experience; strengthen Island infrastructure and services; engage with the Island's environment and cultural heritage; and establish new ways of doing business.

The focus areas are supported by 18 proposed key initiatives designed to promote new developments and business opportunities on the Island, while retaining the Island's character and accessibility.

The new five-year plan suggests making its remote West End a ‘statement piece’ that could be accessed by rail, infill development within Thompson Bay to provide extra accommodation, more private development, mountain bike trails and new camping areas.

However, unlike previous management plans, the new outline does not specify how many visitors the carefully managed island expects to attract or how many it could sustain in coming years.

Introducing the draft plan, Rottnest Island Authority Executive Director Michelle Reynolds said while there had been an "amazing increase" in interstate and overseas visitors in particular, the island could accommodate more.

Reynolds advised “in summer we are very busy but in other times of the year we have got viable accommodation and we would like to share that with even more people.”

Advising that the new management plan met the right balance between future development and preservation of Rottnest's A-class reserve status, Reynolds added “our obligations are well enshrined in our legislation in ensuring that we cherish our A-class reserve.

"That is at the forefront of our considerations of everything we do on this island."

She also noted that access to the Island would naturally cap the number of visitors.

The big growth in visitor numbers has come from interstate and overseas visitors during shoulder- and off-seasons.

However, with these tourists tending to just visit for the day, the new management plan set a course to encourage these visitors to stay overnight, including by offering more accommodation options.

Private investment would be the main source of such new developments, starting with a new development site next to Rottnest Island Lodge.

The key initiatives reflect an ongoing commitment to sustainability principles in all aspects of the Island's management and signal a renewed focus on the Island's heritage, in particular to address issues associated with the Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground and the former Aboriginal Prison (the Quod).

Published in conjunction with the RIMP 2020-24 is an updated version of RIA's 20-Year Vision Rottnest Island Master Plan, which has been revised to reflect changes that have occurred over the past five years and to conform with the new priorities identified in the draft RIMP 2020-24.

For further information or to lodge a submission go to ria.wa.gov.au

Images: Rottnest Island from the air (top) and tennis star Roger Federer's famous selfie taken with a quokka on the Island (below).

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