OUR MISSION
• Retain public access to coastal areas for the greater community
• Conserve flora, fauna, fungi, ecological communities and ecosystem processes, as well as the marine environment and coastal processes.
Our Strategy
You can download our Strategy here.
What You Can Do
• Become a member (membership form here)
• Post a comment
• Contribute to our activities, eg: coastal dune restoration, preparing submissions on various documents/proposals.
COMMUNITY REJECTS IDEA OF A MARINA FOR SWANBOURNE: SOS SWANBOURNE's press release can be viewed at Perth Independent Media.
Some Labor politicians (i.e backbencher Bob Kucera and Planning Minister Alannah McTiernan) seem keen to push the idea of locating a new marina at Swanbourne Beach (see recent evening news item on Channel 9 and Boating WA press release)
What will happen to Swanbourne Beach, a place that thousands of people visit and cherish?
Find out what the beach could look like if a marina (1/3 the size of Hillarys Boat Harbour) was built there: before …. and after, and street map.
Or, even worse, a marina with 600 pens at Swanbourne the size of Hillarys
Boat Harbour (see image below).
On the 13 march 2007 council meeting, a majority of seven Nedlands councillors voted in favour of bulldozing the foredunes at Swanbourne Beach to build three beach volleyball courts.
If you don’t agree with their vote, please feel free to exercise your democratic rights and contact them. Note that some of them will seek re-election in October 2007.
This proposal is likely to have major environmental impacts, including:
The destruction of a dune rehabilitation project that has taken place over eight years led by the City of Nedlands with the support of the local community and Green Corps.
The destruction of an uninterrupted coastal ecosystem that extends from North Fremantle to Hillarys over more than 20 km;
The destruction of the habitat of the southernmost population of the white-winged wren, one of the only two wren species that survives in the Western suburbs.
The destruction of the buffer zone which captures the sand from the beach and protects built areas from sand blasting and ocean incursions in winter.
The Nedlands Council decision to approve the beach volleyball courts was based on the false premise that the dunes and vegetation are artificial.
See council minutes here.
Far from the truth, the Swanbourne dunes are part of an extensive natural dune ecosystem that stretches north and south and acts as an unbroken wildlife corridor.
This ecosystem supports a variety of native plants, birds, reptiles, invertebrates. See Swanbourne dunes plant list
NEWS FLASH
- The Nedlands council revokes motion to level the sand dunes: common sense prevails thanks to community pressure! (See Press Release)
- Petition opposing levelling of the dunes has 280 signatures, including more than 100 Nedlands residents, tabled at last council meeting.
- Councillors Bell, James and van Straalen ignore community and vote against revocation motion. See council minutes.
- How the councillors voted on the revocation motion.
- SOS Swanbourne Action Group launched on 17 April (see Press release).
- Nedlands AGM of electors calls on council to rescind motion to level the sand dunes (16 April)
- What Cr Bell said: “I am talking about half a day with a council front loader” (the Post 17-3-07)
- Click here for more information
Easter Sat 7 Apr was our first morning gathering signatures for our petition and showing off our new banner. The support for our action was great.
If you would like to register for our roster on the coming weekends, please leave an email message with your contact details. (Click 'email me' at top left side bar)
You can find a submission template here prepared by members of the recently-formed Swanbourne Coastal Alliance (SCA), but your submission will be more effective if you put it into your own words.
IMPORTANT: a key point to make is that the projected boat ownership numbers have been grossly inflated in the Study, thus making the need for new marinas in places such as Swanbourne unnecessary.
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