THE new Bay of Fires National Park has apparently missed out one key location – the Bay of Fires.

Lyons Liberal MHA Rene Hidding said the beach that Premier David Bartlett walked along barefoot on Friday was not actually within the boundaries of the new park.

He said the reason the park was created was due to international recognition of the beauty of the coastal strip.

“The only thing not in the Bay of Fires National Park is the coastal strip,” Mr Hidding said.

“Those beaches are not part of the national park, and in fact nowhere near it.”

Mr Hidding said the announcement of the park boundaries was a political exercise that had left the community divided.

Greens Denison MHA Cassy O’Connor said the park boundaries would not encourage community growth the way other Tasmanian national parks have.

“It’s a lost economic opportunity,” she said.

Ms O’Connor also said the Government had left out a section of state forest that it intended to log.

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