Perth Voice Interactive

PAUL GAMBLIN is a spokesperson for the Leighton Action Coalition. Like many of Perth’s coastal areas, Leighton is under pressure from developers, who probably wouldn’t be satisfied until Perth’s coast resembled the mess of Surfers Paradise. Recently the Coalition had a win – of sorts.

PLANNING minister John Carey has just made a major decision about the future of the coast behind Port Beach – south Leighton. 

He has zoned the bulk of the industrial land between Port Beach Road and the railway line, “urban deferred”.

It’s not the best outcome from our point of view, but depending on the integrity of the next steps, it could be a workable compromise. 

The owners of most of this coastal land have been pushing for about a decade to squeeze some final profit from their landholdings (for storing oil, among other uses) by seeking to persuade governments to change the zoning from ‘industrial’ to ‘urban’.

While the Coalition thinks there is ample opportunity for urban development closer to the railway line – designed sympathetically to this unique setting – it would be short-sighted and irresponsible to develop the whole area. 

By zoning it urban deferred, rather than urban, the minister has kept his, and our, options open. 

This is important because it’s an eroding coastline and the priority must be on restoring the dunes and vegetation, which is the best and cheapest way to defend the coast. 

Restoring nature here is also the best gift we can bestow on future generations who are already due to lose a lot of what we’ve largely been able to take for granted: easy, egalitarian access to beautiful natural beaches and foreshore reserves. 

The value of this coastal environment for the tens of thousands more people who will live in the rejuvenated port land to the south, will likewise be inestimable. 

We think the foreshore reserve should be extended to Bracks Street to accommodate these needs.

Contest

In the contest of ideas for this area over the years, we’ve sought to convince the government that it should to stand up to developer pressure and consider the public needs of this precious area before making any further decisions. 

After all, this land was allocated to industry in another world, so hardly represents good planning in 2024, nor the community’s needs for the century ahead.

The City of Fremantle, mayor and councillors, deserve credit for playing a notably constructive role in this discussion, and we have forged a complementary approach, along with many people in the community who’ve taken the time to write submissions, attend our events and stalls, and continue to help. 

Minister Carey’s decision to endorse deferred urban development means that urban or other zoning cannot happen until a number of conditions are met. 

If ever the devil was in the detail, it will be here. 

The WA Planning Commission, which has carriage of zoning processes, has stipulated that the deferred status will be lifted only after a number of criteria are met:

• finalisation or substantial progression of the Future of Fremantle project;

• confirmation of regional road and transport requirements in the locality; 

• confirmation of coastal foreshore reserve requirements; and,  

• consideration of the Fremantle Port buffer.

Our confidence in the Future of Fremantle process, which has undertaken some good work on the port land, was somewhat shaken by the publication of scenarios for the Port Beach coast which all feature varying degrees of heavy engineering, like groynes, including off Leighton Beach, and an inadequate reserve. 

It was clear that there wasn’t enough bandwidth during FoF’s technical meetings to give this area anything like the consideration it needs and deserves.

Much now rests on Mr Carey’s leadership in supporting a genuine process to determine the future community and environmental foreshore reserve requirements. 

Transparent

This must be done transparently, with real community involvement and independent of developer influence. 

We have a beachhead of sorts, to kick things off for the next stage, in the sliver of land, currently squeezed between Port Beach Road and the industrial area, that some private interests wanted zoned urban back in the day. 

That’s now going to be parks and recreation, and whilst it’s only the bare minimum for the reserve we need, it’s a start.

We think Perth’s vast beach-loving community, between the beaches and the hills, will embrace this rare opportunity to shape the future of their coast, for the public good.