TRACE was engaged to prepare a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) for the proposed Aerial Tramway (ATW) in Bowen. The project comprises two stations and two towers connecting Flagstaff Hill, North Head Island and Stone Island, creating a cable-based transport corridor between the Bowen mainland and Stone Island. The LVIA provided a detailed, evidence-based assessment of potential visual and landscape character impacts within this highly scenic and sensitive coastal setting.

The key reference for the assessment was the Whitsunday Scenic Amenity Study (WSAM), prepared by Cardno in 2017. As a supporting document to the Whitsunday Regional Council Planning Scheme, the WSAM emphasises the protection and enhancement of regional scenic values and identifies key lookouts, scenic routes, headlands and islands as important contributors to the distinctiveness and sense of place of the Whitsunday Region.

TRACE applied a rigorous methodology combining GIS-based visibility modelling, landscape character assessment, field verification, 3D modelling and photomontage simulation. The assessment also applied TRACE’s Degree of Visible Change (DVC) methodology to measure the visual prominence of the proposal within the surrounding landscape and assist in identifying representative viewpoints. The analysis distinguished between simple visibility and the degree to which the development would occupy and influence the viewer’s field of view.

The assessment found that the proposed tramway would introduce a prominent new element into the McCanes Bay landscape, with the greatest visual effects occurring at closer residential, lookout and offshore locations. The movement of the cable-car cabins was also identified as an important factor, increasing viewer attention and, in several locations, the assessed magnitude of change.

Overall, the LVIA provided a robust technical basis for considering the proposal within the development assessment process, ensuring that visibility, scenic amenity, landscape character and sensitive viewpoints were clearly understood in relation to the proposed development.