Historical project record

Originally proposed: 2017
Keep It Wild Australia submission: 3 August 2019
Last reviewed: 21 July 2026
Status at last review: Proposed private wilderness lodges abandoned; commercial guided walk operating from existing heritage accommodation

This page records the former proposal for purpose-built commercial accommodation associated with the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail in Flinders Chase National Park. It also documents how the proposal changed following planning approvals, legal action and the 2019–20 bushfires.

It is not maintained as a continuously updated project tracker. Significant later developments may be covered through Keep It Wild Australia’s Protected Areas Tourism Watch reports.

The Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail

The Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail is an approximately 61-kilometre, five-day walking route through Flinders Chase National Park and adjoining protected landscapes on western Kangaroo Island.

The publicly funded trail opened in October 2016 and takes walkers through mallee woodland, coastal heath, river valleys and rugged coastal landscapes near landmarks including Admirals Arch and Remarkable Rocks. It was developed as a public multi-day walking experience supported by National Parks and Wildlife Service campsites. (ABC News)

Independent walkers continue to be able to book and undertake the trail through the South Australian national parks system. Licensed commercial operators may also provide guided trips. (Parks and Wildlife SA)

The later controversy did not concern the existence of the public trail itself. It concerned plans to introduce privately operated, high-end accommodation at separate sites inside Flinders Chase National Park.

The original accommodation proposal

In 2017, the South Australian Government selected the Australian Walking Company as the preferred proponent to develop eco-sensitive accommodation associated with the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail.

The Department for Environment and Water’s 2017–18 annual report recorded that the company had been selected to build accommodation facilities and that more than $800,000 from the Future Jobs Fund had been allocated to support the project. The government anticipated that the development would create around 30 full-time jobs. (Environment SA)

The proposal developed into plans for two accommodation sites at Sandy Creek and Sanderson Bay within Flinders Chase National Park.

Planning documents described clusters of two-person sleeping pods, communal buildings, staff facilities, water and energy systems, wastewater infrastructure, boardwalks and associated operational areas. The Sanderson Bay application proposed eight accommodation pods and communal facilities, while the combined development was commonly described as involving around 20 buildings across the two locations. (SA Planning Commission)

The accommodation was intended for guests undertaking a premium guided walk operated by the Australian Walking Company. It was separate from the public trail camps and represented a dedicated commercial tourism development inside the national park.

Site selection and distance from the public trail

A central point of dispute was that the original lodge locations were not positioned directly beside the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail.

The proposed sites were selected for their coastal setting and views, but parts of the development were located a considerable distance from the established trail. New access tracks would therefore have been required to connect guided clients with the accommodation.

Local conservation volunteers argued that any accommodation associated with the trail should be located on or very close to the existing route and within previously disturbed areas, rather than on intact coastal sites selected largely for their visual appeal.

The Australian Walking Company and the Department for Environment and Water maintained that the sites had been selected following environmental, operational and visitor-experience investigations. Government planning material formally supported the development and described it as consistent with efforts to expand high-end nature-based tourism in South Australia. (Infrastructure & Transport Dept.)

Vegetation clearance and environmental footprint

The original accommodation proposal required native vegetation clearance within Flinders Chase National Park.

A 2019 vegetation assessment described standing camps at Sandy Creek and Sanderson Bay and identified up to approximately 1.66 hectares of native vegetation clearance associated with the proposed development. The Native Vegetation Council endorsed the clearance subject to the relevant requirements, with payment into the Native Vegetation Fund identified as the most likely offset mechanism. (Environment SA)

The physical footprint extended beyond the sleeping pods themselves. The project required communal buildings, utilities, pathways, wastewater systems, fire-management measures and access for construction and ongoing operation.

Supporters described the buildings as small, lightweight and designed to sit sensitively within the landscape. Opponents argued that the cumulative footprint and the choice of intact coastal sites were inconsistent with the conservation purpose and wilderness character of the national park.

Planning approval

The accommodation development received state planning approval in July 2019.

The approval was presented by the South Australian Government as an important step in opening national parks to new nature-based tourism investment. At the time, the Australian Walking Company had received approval to construct accommodation associated with the trail inside Flinders Chase National Park. (ABC News)

The decision became a prominent example in the national debate over private tourism infrastructure in protected areas. It raised questions about whether high-end commercial accommodation should be permitted inside national parks, particularly where less-disturbed or off-park alternatives may be available.

Keep It Wild Australia’s 2019 submission

Keep It Wild Australia lodged an objection on 3 August 2019.

The submission argued that commercial accommodation should be located outside national parks and that constructing accommodation villages on intact coastal sites would diminish the wilderness qualities of Flinders Chase National Park. It also supported the position expressed by Friends of Flinders Chase National Park that accommodation associated with the walk should be located close to the established trail rather than several kilometres away in comparatively undisturbed country.

The submission reflected Keep It Wild Australia’s broader position that guiding and tourism services can support access to protected areas without requiring purpose-built private accommodation within them.

Legal challenge

Friends of Parks Kangaroo Island Western Districts challenged the approval in the Supreme Court of South Australia.

The case concerned whether the proposed developments were consistent with the applicable park-management arrangements and whether the approvals had been lawfully granted. The dispute became one of several Australian cases testing the relationship between national park management plans, planning law and government-supported private tourism proposals. (ABC News)

The legal proceedings did not ultimately result in a final court ruling that permanently prevented the development. Instead, the parties reached a settlement in early 2021 after the proposal had been reconsidered in the aftermath of the Kangaroo Island bushfires.

Effects of the 2019–20 bushfires

The 2019–20 bushfires burned much of western Kangaroo Island, including large parts of Flinders Chase National Park and infrastructure associated with the Wilderness Trail.

Despite the damage, the Australian Walking Company initially stated that it remained committed to pursuing accommodation in the park. The company described the lodges as a long-term project and indicated that it was willing to continue discussing the proposal with the community and government. (ABC News)

The fires changed the practical and regulatory setting. The public walking trail, visitor facilities and heritage accommodation required extensive restoration, while questions arose about whether new construction should proceed within a recovering landscape.

The 2021 compromise

The court dispute was resolved through a compromise announced in February 2021.

Under the revised arrangement, the accommodation would no longer be built at the original remote locations. The proposed sleeping pods were to be moved closer to the existing Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail, reducing the need for long connecting tracks through intact vegetation.

The compromise retained the concept of purpose-built commercial accommodation but altered its siting. Contemporary reporting described it as allowing the development to continue on locations adjacent to the trail rather than approximately two kilometres away near the originally proposed coastal sites. (ABC News)

The settlement reduced some of the concerns about off-track clearing but did not end the debate over private accommodation within the national park.

Later accommodation concept

Following the fires and court settlement, the Australian Walking Company continued developing a revised Kangaroo Island walking product.

The later concept placed greater emphasis on existing or previously developed precincts, including Rocky River and Cape du Couedic. It contemplated combining restored heritage accommodation with additional purpose-built facilities rather than proceeding exactly as proposed at Sandy Creek and Sanderson Bay.

The operator continued to promote a future lodge-based walk, but construction of the original two accommodation villages did not commence.

The shifting concept illustrates how the project changed over time. What began as two new coastal lodge sites became a more constrained proposal associated with the established trail and existing visitor precincts.

New-build accommodation abandoned

In January 2026, it was reported that the Australian Walking Company had abandoned its proposal to construct the new accommodation buildings inside Flinders Chase National Park.

Reports described the cancelled project as a roughly $4 million development involving two lodge sites and around 20 buildings. No construction of the original Sandy Creek or Sanderson Bay accommodation villages had occurred. (We Are Explorers)

I have not located a detailed South Australian Government statement explaining the termination, the status of the former development approvals or whether any associated agreement was formally surrendered. The abandonment has therefore been reported publicly and is consistent with the operator’s current tourism product, but the complete contractual and administrative closure has not been published in accessible official material.

The current commercial walking product

The Australian Walking Company now operates the Kangaroo Island Signature Walk, a four-day guided commercial experience using restored heritage cottages at Cape du Couedic.

The current itinerary includes sections of the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail, guided walks, meals and private accommodation. Rather than staying in newly constructed wilderness pods, guests stay in existing lighthouse cottages within the national park precinct. (Australian Walking Company)

The commercial product therefore proceeded, but through adaptation and reuse of existing buildings rather than construction of the two proposed lodge villages on intact coastal sites.

Independent use of the public Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail also continues. The trail remains bookable through the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and more than one licensed operator may provide guided access. (Parks and Wildlife SA)

What changed

The project underwent several substantial changes between 2017 and 2026.

The Australian Walking Company was initially selected to develop high-end accommodation associated with the public Wilderness Trail.

Formal applications were then lodged for two purpose-built accommodation villages at Sandy Creek and Sanderson Bay. These received planning and native vegetation approvals in 2019.

Following community opposition, legal proceedings and the 2019–20 bushfires, the accommodation sites were moved closer to the established walking route.

The concept later shifted towards the use of existing visitor precincts and heritage accommodation.

The proposed new lodge buildings were ultimately abandoned, while the guided commercial walk continued using restored Cape du Couedic cottages.

The final outcome is therefore materially different from the development opposed by Keep It Wild Australia in 2019.

Commercial tourism implications

The proposal was important because it involved public support for private accommodation inside one of South Australia’s oldest and most ecologically significant national parks.

It went well beyond licensing a company to guide visitors along an existing public trail. The original model included:

  • two dedicated accommodation villages;
  • private sleeping pods and communal facilities;
  • native vegetation clearance;
  • wastewater, water and energy infrastructure;
  • additional walking connections;
  • commercial use of national park sites; and
  • public funding supporting the private tourism investment.

The current walking product presents a different model. The Australian Walking Company still offers a premium guided experience inside the park, but it uses restored heritage accommodation in an established precinct rather than a new chain of private wilderness lodges.

That distinction is central to the historical record. Commercial guiding and accommodation did not disappear, but the most contested new development on intact sites did not proceed.

Why this project matters

The Kangaroo Island proposal became an influential test case in the debate over private tourism accommodation in Australian national parks.

It demonstrated how a development can receive political support, public funding and planning approval while still changing substantially before construction.

The project also showed the importance of examining where tourism infrastructure is located. The debate was not simply about whether visitors should have comfortable accommodation. It was about whether new private buildings should be placed on intact coastal sites within a national park when existing precincts and buildings offered alternatives.

The eventual use of restored lighthouse cottages shows that a premium guided walking product can operate without constructing every element of the original proposal.

This historical record is therefore relevant not only because the lodge project was abandoned, but because its evolution offers an example of how less intrusive alternatives can emerge through scrutiny, legal challenge, changed circumstances and further planning.

Confirmed

The Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail opened as a public multi-day trail in 2016.

The South Australian Government selected the Australian Walking Company to develop high-end accommodation associated with the trail.

The government provided more than $800,000 from the Future Jobs Fund to support the proposed facilities.

Development applications were lodged for accommodation at Sandy Creek and Sanderson Bay in Flinders Chase National Park.

The proposal involved sleeping pods, communal buildings and associated service infrastructure.

Native vegetation approval allowed clearance of up to approximately 1.66 hectares.

State planning approval was granted in July 2019.

Friends of Parks Kangaroo Island Western Districts commenced Supreme Court proceedings challenging the proposal.

A 2021 settlement moved the proposed accommodation closer to the existing trail.

The original accommodation villages were not constructed.

The Australian Walking Company now operates a guided Kangaroo Island Signature Walk using restored Cape du Couedic heritage cottages.

The new-build accommodation proposal was reported as abandoned in late 2025 and publicly confirmed through reporting in January 2026. (ABC News)

Not yet confirmed

The exact date on which the Australian Walking Company made its final decision not to proceed.

Whether the company or South Australian Government formally surrendered or cancelled every development approval, lease negotiation or funding agreement.

How much of the government grant was paid, spent, repaid or redirected.

The total public and private expenditure on planning, assessment, design and legal proceedings.

Whether the Sandy Creek and Sanderson Bay sites remain designated for visitor use under current park-management documents despite the project’s abandonment.

Whether a different proponent could legally seek to rely on any part of the former approval framework.

The final contractual arrangements governing the Australian Walking Company’s use of the Cape du Couedic cottages.

Sources and documents

  • South Australian State Commission Assessment Panel: Australian Walking Company accommodation applications for Sandy Creek and Sanderson Bay
  • Department for Environment and Water: Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail accommodation native vegetation assessments
  • Native Vegetation Council: Advice concerning the proposed clearance
  • Department for Environment and Water: 2017–18 Annual Report
  • Kangaroo Island protected-area management-plan documents
  • Supreme Court proceedings and the 2021 settlement concerning the proposed accommodation
  • National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia: Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail
  • Australian Walking Company: Kangaroo Island Signature Walk
  • Keep It Wild Australia objection dated 3 August 2019