Want Cape Peron Coastal Park to happen?

Here’s what you need to do now and why.

If our Point Peron public land is rezoned to Urban we will lose our once in a lifetime opportunity to create our alternate vision of a World Class tourist attracting and jobs rich Cape Peron Coastal Park concept plan

However, the proposed rezoning of Point Peron land can’t go ahead unless the rezoning is passed by both houses of the WA State Parliament.

That means our WA State politicians, including ‘your’ local member can STOP the rezoning if they choose to, by blocking in the parliament the proposed rezoning of public land at Point Peron to “Urban” to allow for the proposed Mangles Bay housing estate and other possible uses.

With a WA State election due soon on March 11 your current local Member of Parliament (MP) will be seeking your vote in the hope that this will secure them enough votes to enable them to remain as your local MP.

There will also be candidates from other parties and Independents seeking your vote in the hope that they can win the seat for themselves.

Most of the politicians know very little about this Point Peron issue. That’s why is it crucial that you contact them to tell them about it and let them know how you feel about Point Peron being rezoned for housing thereby destroying our once in a lifetime opportunity to create our alternate vision of a World Class tourist attracting and jobs rich Cape Peron Coastal Park concept plan

Make this an election issue for your current local member and the other election candidates vying for your vote.

Essentially we want your local members and other election candidates to commit to opposing the proposed rezoning of public land at Point Peron to “Urban” to allow for the proposed Mangles Bay housing estate and other possible uses. And we want them to commit to creating Cape Peron Coastal Park on our Point Peron public land instead of the proposed Mangles Bay Housing Estate and ‘boating facilities’

Taking Action:

Contact your local MP today. If you don’t know what electorate you are in you can find out here by simply entering your postcode.

Once you know what electorate you are in, you can then find out who your current member of the WA State Parliament is by entering your electorate here

Please email the election candidates for your electorate as well.

You can find your election candidates here

Labor party candidates http://walabor.org.au/2017candidates

Greens party candidates http://greens.org.au/candidates/wa

Liberal party candidates https://www.waliberal.org.au/your-members/your-electorate/

The most effective way to influence them is to contact them face to face. If you possibly can, call their office and make an appointment to see them. Get your dot points together and take them along with you.

Here are some simple talking points in case you need them

This canal estate is not needed as there is a suitable marina site at Wanliss Street already approved for Rockingham that is close to existing infrastructure/café strip which has wide community support.

The 1964 Point Peron Land Agreement stipulated that Point Peron’s use is to be ‘restricted to a reserve for recreation and/or parklands’ and that the land must not be used ‘for private industrial, commercial or residential development’.

Point Peron is a valuable nature-based tourist attraction and the Rockingham and WA economy need on-going long term jobs that Nature-Based tourism provides

Research shows clearly that people (both tourists and locals) want ‘unspoilt nature and beaches’ more than cafes and shops for tourists. Built features are NOT necessary to put a world class coastal conservation park on the bucket list for visitors but natural beaches and unspoilt spectacular vistas are ….. Cape Peron already has these.

Destroying half of the area to build a canal housing estate will drastically reduce its natural beauty and compromise its economic value as a nature-based tourism destination.

This proposed development will dramatically change the natural casual character of Point Peron because its scale and intensity will dominate the entire area. It will not be possible to go anywhere on Point Peron without sensing the presence of this development. While the development may only occupy around thirty percent of Point Peron its impact will be felt over the entire peninsular.

According to a leading WA oceanographer the proposed Point Peron canal estate will not flush due to small tides. In other words, it is forecast to be a failure – and, thus, a hugely expensive failure for all ratepayers/taxpayers. The failed canal development at Port Geographe Bay threatened to bankrupt the City of Busselton until the W.A. Government poured in over $30 million of our taxpayer money … and continues to do so.

Claiming what is essentially a canal suburb will be a tourist drawcard means it will be just one more of the same, competing with Hillary’s, Elizabeth Quay. A 70’s style canal housing estate will not draw tourists to the Rockingham.

The smart option is for us is to build on our existing natural attractions and create a long-term jobs rich ‘Cape Peron Coastal Park’ – a continuous coastal conservation and recreation park from Lake Richmond through Cape Peron and across to Shoalwater Islands Marine Park

Preserving Cape Peron in its entirety and creating a world class protected coastal park is an imperative, not just for WA and the Rockingham region, but also for people’s physical and mental health … and for WA’s economy

If you need more talking points there is a comprehensive list of dot points available to use here and you can find more information on our websites at http://cape-peron-coastal-park.com/ and http://handsoffpointperon.com/.

Otherwise just talk from the heart as to how you feel. Be assured that as an ordinary concerned citizen you are not expected to be an expert. You will find that you know a lot more than the politicians and candidates do about this issue.

Remember your local MP is supposed to represent your views in the WA Parliament. That’s why they need to hear from you. You will need to contact them more than once to get their attention.

So that we can all work together please consider sharing with us the responses that you get back from MP’s and candidates by posting their responses to our Facebook page. If they don’t respond please let us know about this too.