First beginnings - the vandalism of speleothems

The early history of cave protection in Tasmania shows that such was largely up to local bodies such as the municipal councils (and their police officers), tourist associations and concerned citizens. The fragility of caves and desecration of their contents (speleothems) received considerable public attention when local residents and visitors to the Chudleigh Caves (of Mole Creek) in the Deloraine district began reporting damage to the caves in the early 1870s.

Prior to the passing of the Police Regulation Act, 1898 (which centralised police administration by the establishment of one police force for the whole of Tasmania), the various municipalities each controlled their own municipal police force. The Deloraine Municipal Council instructed their police officers to take action to protect the caves near Chudleigh and Council minutes for 3 March 1873 record a letter from the local Superintendent of Police explaining "...the steps taken by the police to prevent injury to the Caves, and reporting the recovery of some interesting specimens of stalagmites taken from the New Caves..." (Archives Office of Tasmania [AOT]: MCC 42/2/3). There had been reports that a cartload of cave formations had been removed from the caves. A newspaper report of the time indicates that over a period of four days, several road workers employed under the Deloraine Board of Works had been responsible for the recent vandalism in one of the caves. One of the speleothems which these workers carefully chiselled out was described by the newspaper account as a magnificent "cauliflower" feature: "...about three feet in height, and five feet in circumference, and was estimated to weigh a quarter of a ton." [Launceston Examiner, Tuesday 11 March 1873]. This particular "cauliflower" speleothem and another large piece of stalactite were subsequently confiscated by the Deloraine Council and put on display in their council chambers!

At their 3 March 1873 meeting, the Deloraine Council moved a motion: "... that the Supt. of Police be instructed to inquire into the removal of Stalactites from the Chudleigh Caves and if necessary lay informations against persons removing them under the 88th section of the Waste Lands Act, 34 Vict. No. 10." [This presumably relates to a government statute or law passed under the reign of Queen Victoria] These same council minutes record a letter sent to the Warden of Deloraine Council from the Tasmanian Minister of Lands relating to a complaint from Dan Pickett about injury to the caves near Chudleigh.

Reservation of land around caves

In his letter to the Warden of Deloraine Council tabled at its March 1873 meeting, the Minister for Lands and Works suggests "... the Council should take the land in which the Caves are situate under their control." [AOT: MCC 42/2/3]. Although instructions were given to the District Surveyor by the Lands and Works Department, for a survey to be undertaken with a view to reserving lands around the caves, little action appears to have taken place till the same matter of removal of stalactites was raised some five years later.

On 26 April 1879, the Deloraine Council received advice from the Minister of Lands which intimated the reservation of two separate parcels of land in the Chudleigh area: a 300 acre area around the "New Caves" near Sassafras Creek and a 100 acre area around the "Old Caves" (then variously known as the Oakdens Caves, Wet Caves or Caveside Caves). Collectively referred to as the Chudleigh Caves Reserves, the Minister for Lands advised that the grant deeds for the reserves would be issued to the Deloraine council, provided they paid the 122:10:0 survey fee. It was also proposed that an additional area of land would be reserved near the 300 acre area when the Township of Ugbrook was marked out along Sassafras Creek. [AOT: MCC 42/3/41. Council then instructed the Police "...to make themselves acquainted with the boundaries of the Caves Reserves with the view to making an inspection of the Same."

Subsequent to these reserves being declared, the Council was petitioned by local graziers and timber getters in the 1880s to lease these reserve lands and to assist the Chudleigh Road Trust to provide access roads. These petitions were largely ignored till July 1888, when William Baldock made a detailed submission to rent the 300 acre New Caves Reserve for a 21-year period. Provided he was given the first five years rent free, Baldock offered to pay "...5/- per acre for the 16 years afterward, look after the caves if locked... [and charge]...2/6 for all that came to see them..." [AOT: MCC 42/3/4].

Caves as tourist assets

In 1890, the Western Railway line was extended to Chudleigh, then subsequently to Mole Creek, and the Railway Department became actively interested in promoting Special Excursion trains to bring visitors from Launceston to see the Chudleigh Caves. The Railway Department was effectively responsible for introducing the beginnings of organised tourism in Tasmania. The increasing popularity of the caves brought added problems and there was still no organised management or protection of the caves. Around this time, the Deloraine Council seemed to be more concerned with the plague of rabbits in the district and the appointed Rabbit Inspectors were given permission to lay poisoned wheat on the cave reserves. [Council Minutes for 7 May 1894 record that in the Reports and Returns of the Deloraine Inspectors of Rabbits, a total aggregate of 42,473 rabbits were culled in the district for the month of April 1894.] Deloraine Council minutes for August 1894 record "...the destruction of Stalactites in the Caves..." and the need to post notices at cave entrances warning of the penalties for causing injury to caves under the auspices of the Waste Lands Act.

Along with the interest in tourism by the Railway Department, a number of tourist associations were developed around the turn of the century, including the Northern Tasmanian Tourist Association (NTTA). The NTTA approached the Deloraine Council on various occasions between 1899 and 1906 with a view to taking over management of the Chudleigh Caves and appointing tourist guides for commercial tourist operations. Following discussions with the Council, the NTTA elected a Board of Trustees in April 1901, to look after the caves near Chudleigh and Mole Creek. Since the Tasmanian Government was in the process of purchasing Baldocks Cave during that same year (considered as one of the caves near Mole Creek), the NTTA expressed an interest in managing the cave as a tourist site on behalf of the government. On 25 July 1901, Mr. Wiburd, an expert from the Jenolan Caves in NSW, inspected the caves near Chudleigh and Mole Creek and made recommendations that they be opened up as tourist assets.

Government involvement in tourism and protection of caves

In 1913, the Department of Railways officially commenced the operation of a new tourism subsection, with Evelyn T. Emmett appointed as the first Director of the Tasmanian Government Tourist and Information Bureau. In support of the growing concern for protection of tourist assets, the Tasmanian Government proclaimed the Scenery Preservation Act in 1915. Under the auspices of this Act, the Scenery Preservation Office came into being, essentially a sub-section of the Lands and Surveys Department and in 1916 the Scenery Preservation Board (SPB) was formed as the major satellite body to the Scenery Preservation Office. The Board was comprised of the heads of several government departments: the Surveyor-General (E.A. Counsel), the Engineer-in-Chief (F.W. Fowler), the District Surveyor (C.S. Wilson), the Government Botanist (L. Rodway), the Commissioner of Railways (L. Bruce) and the Director of the Tourist Bureau (E.T. Emmett) [AOT: 264/1].

During their first meeting on 7 July 1916, the SPB sought to consider a list of all the reservations that should be brought under the provisions of the Scenery Preservation Act. Amongst the sites considered for reservation at their second meeting on 19 July 1916 were Remarkable Cave, Sensation Gorge, Alum Clfffs, Ida Bay Caves, Junee Caves and Gunns Plains Caves.

In February/March 1917, E. T. Emmett undertook discussions with J. D. Byard at Mole Creek, the proprietor of Byards (Marakoopa) Caves regarding the Tourist Bureau's possible interest in the site. On 15 March 1917, Emmett reported to the Scenery Preservation Board a concern that the length of Byards Cave probably extended on to Crown Land beyond Byard's property boundaries, suggesting a need to have the cave surveyed. At a subsequent meeting of the Scenery Preservation Board on 4 October, it was requested that the Board ask for the agreement of Ulverstone Tourist Association to have the Gunns Plains Cave placed under the control of the SPB and to seek similar control of the Kimberley Springs [AOT: 264/1].

At this same meeting, Emmett invited SPB members to accompany him and Mr. J.C. Wiburd from Jenolan Caves on a tour of inspection of the Mole Creek caves in early November; this visit was subsequently reported in the Hobart Mercury (7 November 1917). In late December 1917, Newdegate Cave at Hastings was discovered, but did not become public knowledge till February/March 1918 (Clarke, 1999).

At the February 1918 meeting of the Scenery Preservation Board, Emmett moved a motion recommending that the Governor be asked to proclaim Gunns Plains Cave as a Crown Land reserve. This was gazetted on 19 February 1918. Three weeks later on 11 March, Emmett delivered an illustrated lecture on the "Caves of Tasmania" to the Royal Society of Tasmania; this was followed a month later on 15 April by J. W. Beattie's lecture on "The Hastings (Caves) Discovery", illustrated with lantern slides. At the 3 July meeting of the SPB, it was decided to form a policy towards the acquisition and protection of caves at Mole Creek and a sub-committee of the Board was appointed by Cabinet ministers to report on the Mole Creek cave development. At their first meeting held 5 July 1918, a recommendation was made that the Tasmanian Government should "...acquire Byards Marakoopa Cave, secure sufficient land around the cave to encompass the neighbouring fern gully and organise an immediate survey of the cave in order to see what area of land it extends over" [AOT: 264/1]. A similar motion was also passed stating that the Government should purchase King Solomons Cave.

At the 8 August 1918 meeting of the SPB, a recommendation was put forward to the Premier for State control of all caves with an additional recommendation that the government forms a "...forward cave development policy". At the second meeting of the sub-committee appointed by Cabinet (on 18 September), it was minuted that this "...Committee recommend the Government to purchase Byards Marakoopa Cave for £500 and also to purchase James' lease of King Solomons Cave for £200... and that a letter should be sent to the Premier stating that "...the £900 voted for cave purchase be re-appropriated for above purchases and surplus together with £600 which Government be now recommended to vote be utilised for the development of these caves, Baldocks Cave and Gunns Plains Cave..." [AOT: 264/1].

In March 1919, development works were commenced in Gunns Plains Cave, but the major component of the lighting was not installed till 1926. On 24 June 1919, the Hastings Caves reserve was gazetted. It was informally operated as a tourist cave by local guides. As it required a seven mile walk to access the site and this distance was considered enough of a deterrent to assist in protection of the sites. Following this initial flurry of activity by the Scenery Preservation Board, there was virtually no further significant input by the SPB into cave management or cave protection until the government development of Newdegate Cave in the late 1930s (Clarke, 1999).

However, perhaps the final coup de grace for early cave protection in Tasmania during this period comes from the following set of "Cave By-Laws" gazetted in May 1921.

Reference

Clarke, A. (1999) The early history of Newdegate Cave and its development for tourism. Proceedings of the 13th Australasian Conference on Cave and Karst Management, Mt. Gambier, South Australia, April 1999.