RED ALERT - A marina at Swanbourne?

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).

Comments

[Ian Day]

As a resident of Cottesloe and user of the Dog Beach I support the rejection of this Marina concept. The marina will strip the beach of sand from the entire Dog Beach.
I suggest you paste the south side of Cottesloe Groyne beach into your "After" picture to show what the south of the Marina would look like.

[John, beach user]

MP Bob Kucera and Planning Alannah MacTiernan should butt out and stop interfering with what the Swanbourne community wants and coastal planning processes.

Bob Kucera, MP for Yokine, has certainly no right to take the high moral ground that he represents the whole WA community against a small group of 'privileged' residents.

He should realise that the Swanbourne community is a small tight-knit community of people from all walks of life, not just the 'Western Suburb" stereotype. We don't want to see our neighbourhood, coast and beaches disfigured by a marina intended for a rich elite of boat owners.

As with Minister MacTiernan, she should let the Perth Coastal Planning Strategy process take its course. Swanbourne is not (with good reasons) mentioned as suitable site in the draft strategy.

The Nedlands council has already rejected councillors van Straalen and Bell's motion to hand pick a consultant to do a feasibility study on a marina here. That should be the end of the matter.

[Friends of Allen Park Bushland]

HANDS OFF MR KUCERA
Last Sat. Bob Kucera was interviewed by Channel 9 which ran an interview with about a feasibility study for a marina at Swanbourne (500 boat pens) an idea that was sparked by one of Nedlands councillors in March.

As the marina site abuts the Department of Defence boundary line, the idea was put to bed, or now it seems, to rest. At present we are awaiting a response from Dept of Defence, as in the end they are the key to the issue
here. To test the impact of such a proposal, we imposed an aerial shot of half Hillary's Marina over Swanbourne beach and it wipes out a massive amount of land including the surf lifesaving club and our entire BushForever site.

While the likes of some councillors in Nedlands and Bob Kucera consider that the land in question is unused, just idle, they fail to recognise that the reason the area earned its status as a BushForever site was because of its significant biodiversity values. Lot 1, the triangle of land (BushForever site 315 ) is far from idle. It houses a myriad of fauna, flora and fungi all going about their very respective rolls in an ecosystem that's highly evolved. BushForever sites are sacrosanct and should not be subject to developmental consideration. If so, it makes an absolute mockery of the entire process.

What really concerns us is that there is talk of a housing development to fund the marina. What sort of housing, who'll put the money up for it? Who's going to fund a feasibility study?

There is a shortage of boat pens in Perth, 65 have just been awarded to Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour (Western Suburbs Weekly, 22 May). We believe Rous Head is the best bet and more pressure needs to be put on for that area to accommodate the balance, somewhere in the region of 350. Anywhere else between Fremantle and Hillary's has massive implications for the Coastal environment and for Bob Kuchera to say it's not just about that little enclave in the western suburbs being obstructive, is offensive.

[Paul, local resident]

Swanbourne has not been mentioned in the draft Perth Coastal Planning Strategy recently released by the DPI. Swanbourne just does not meet the basic criteria. It is not on the radar.

So where does the idea come from?

The proponents of the project include Councillors from the City of Nedlands, the MP for Yokine...

So why this idea? Who will benefit from this project?

If this project was in the public's best interest, it would have been identified as a priority by the DPI and adopted by the City of Nedlands. Process would have followed. Instead, it does not have a mention in the DPI report and has been rejected by the Nedlands Council.

So whose interests is this idea serving? A promoter? A lobbyist? 150 boat owners? At the expense of thousands of beach goers?...

[Tim, 14 yo]

I am 14 years old and have been surfing, skim boarding, and kiting on Swanbourne beach for the last 25 years - well it seems like it. Since I can recall.

Many of my mates like Swannie beach because of the swell and because it's close to home. I can go there before school, after school, over the week-end.

I would hate to lose my beach.

[Sandy Shore]

Through the Surfrider Foundation Australia and the Save Smiths Beach campaign, I have become very aware of coastal issues.

When did the boaties get so much political clout? On investigation of a boat launching ramp development plan for an area of rural beach in East Gippsland, Victoria, it was found that the majority of beach users were passive users, such as surfers, walkers, recreational fisherpeople, whose impact was removed from the beach when they left.

The boaties, however, were asking for hard solution major infrastructure work for car parking, traffic access and boat launching facilities to benefit their minority group to the detriment of the whole location. The local community rallied the disparate passive beach users into one voice against the boat ramp and rock wall (through the surfing area). Now they have an effective lobby group that matches the boating lobby in clout. A decision will come down to which group presents the better debate rather than just a walkover for boat owners.

A Western Australian example of how a marina can effect a sheltered, yet dynamic (sand movement) coastline is Port Geographe in the Busselton Shire. I would suggest SOS Swanbourne supporters to have a look at the coastal problems that weren't planned for in that case. Especially look at how much the local rate payers will be paying for the developer's mistakes into the future. A marina is a new form of tax for planning on the run coastal developments.

My original question was, in part, rhetorical. The boaties (not surf club boat rowers) got the political clout when they teamed up with the economists who realised that Western Australians like nothing better than burning out their retinas and sandblasting off their melanomas on a sunny summer afternoon in their coastal condominium.

It will be pushed along by dollar-value real estate profits, with the usual cut in the form of stamp duty and fees to local and state government, under a shroud of 'safety improvement' claims, is my first impression.

But coastal developers don't get it so easy these days. People just have to remember that thousands of other people enjoy that same uncrowded beach, just at a different time of day or year, and if we all get together, we can make a noise. Noise scares politicians, they like it peaceful.

Coastal development is only 'inevitible' as long as coastal developers continue to succeed in taking away, from an apathetic or 'too busy' community, amenity that is already valued by that community, to make their own personal profits.

If you're new to coastal community activism, welcome and enjoy yourself.

[Angela]

The idea of a marina at swanny is ridiculous. It will ruin the beach and the town of Swanbourne. There is a huge amount of opposition from people that actually live in the area. Support is only coming from wankers living in mcmansions who have run out of room at hillarys. Bad bad idea.

[David]

What a ridiculous idea. I am all for a lobby group and I KNOW there is much anger within the community already about to come forth due to such a crazy proposition.

There will be noise, there will be more noise than when a storm hits our beautiful coast.

[Kev]

No way.

If you really want to spoil a truly good old fashioned Aussie beach just go on and build the marina.
But spare a thought for the people who use this beach. Us who enjoy the pleasure of a free environment during the summer months, without prejudice. We are relatively private here. While spoil it.
Kevin