The Huon Valley Council (HVC) has formally rejected the development application for the Dark Lab Transformer Project on Wednesday, September 29, with Destination Southern Tasmania expressing its extreme disappointment in the decision.

The $9.5 million Dark Lab project was an art and tourism proposal planned for Lune River Road in the Ida Bay State Reserve, an idea that arose from the 2019 bushfire recovery, CEO of Destination Southern Tasmania Alex Heroys stated.

“Dark Lab’s Transformer was designed to increase visitation to the Huon Valley as well as create another attraction to spread the risk when dealing with attraction closures during disasters,” Mr Heroys responded.

“This project was strongly supported by local tourism and hospitality operators and they have been looking forward to the expected

visitation of 30,000 people annually.”

For the full story, pick up the latest copy of the Huon News.