PORT Beach could be lost without urgent State Government action on sea-level rise and erosion, with Fremantle council now warning it is too early to rezone former industrial land for housing.
The council this week backed a committee recommendation to tell the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage that the 23-hectare North Fremantle Urban Precinct should remain urban deferred until outstanding work on coastal setbacks and transport planning is completed.
The former industrial land adjoining Port Beach has long been earmarked for eventual housing and mixed-use development, but councillors have argued key planning questions must be resolved before the next stage of rezoning.
Fremantle Coastal Ward Councillor Andrew Sullivan said the State needed to widen the foreshore reserve and address the relocation of Port Beach Road before new facilities could be built, as Fremantle finalises a new Coastal Hazard Risk Management and Adaptation Plan (CHRMAP).
“What concerns me is all the talk in the neighbourhood, in the planning circles, is that they’re just racing ahead and going to lift the urban deferment, and there has been absolutely no evidence or information provided, even to us, let alone the community, that they have done anything further than what was done at the time of approving the MRS amendment,” he said.
The City’s first coastal hazard plan, completed in 2017, identified the Port Beach area as highly vulnerable to immediate and future coastal erosion and recommended further investigation of coastal protection options.
Sand nourishment has since been used as an interim measure, but the City is now proposing a longer-term managed retreat strategy for Port Beach, including the removal of assets from the erosion-risk zone and planning for their relocation.
“Sea level rise is even more terrifying because so much of our waterfront city is very low lying,” Cr Sullivan said.
“We need the State to get its skates on so we have somewhere to build new facilities, otherwise Port Beach as we know it will be lost,” he warned.
The City has previously said the new CHRMAP will “define and prioritise appropriate responses along the Fremantle coastline.”
Coastal management has shifted significantly since the original 2017 plan, with greater emphasis on managed retreat and flexible adaptation rather than relying solely on permanent protection.
Cr Sullivan said the rezoning decision could not be separated from the future of the coastline.
by RUBY PRESTON