City of Busselton Council has voted to retain the current permitted uses at two of the City’s popular local beaches and to improve local infrastructure to ensure people are using the beaches appropriately.
The decision will ensure the continuation of horse riding and four wheel driving in specified areas of Wonnerup and Forrest beaches in accordance with existing regulations.
A community survey was conducted in March, which attracted 652 responses. Of these, 71.5% were “unhappy” or “very unhappy” about the idea of modifying the existing uses of each beach, while 70.7% were “unhappy” or “very unhappy” about the idea of implementing seasonal rules and time restrictions.
“It was very clear from the survey that people did not want to see the current uses changed, but there was a strong message from the community that compliance issues needed to be resolved,” said Mayor, Phill Cronin.
“We wanted to address escalating community concerns relating to safety and amenity associated with inappropriate beach use in the Forrest beach area and with new infrastructure, including signage, all beach users should be very clear on which areas they can conduct their activities.
“It is also critically important that we do what we can to protect the coastal environment, and the new infrastructure should serve to prevent further damage to our dune systems.”
The Council has allocated $100,000 across the next two financial years to install the necessary infrastructure to better manage access and amenity at the two beaches.
“We have committed to constructing a formal car park for horse floats, as well as some other infrastructure such as bollards and signage, which should ensure people using these beaches are doing so in accordance with the permitted uses,” said Mayor Cronin.
“On behalf of the Council, I thank the community for bringing these issues to our attention and for taking the time to provide comments through the survey which helped inform our decision,” he said.
