The City of Stirling Council voted on 25 June 2024 to approve $500,000 of ratepayer’s money to conduct a “feasibility study” into establishing a coastal boardwalk between Trigg and Scarborough Beach.

The Council had no opportunity to debate this budget allocation because it was hidden away in the 2024-2028 Corporate Business Plan as a single item with no background information or officer’s report. The item did not appear on the Council Meeting Agenda. This lack of transparency, scrutiny and proper process is unacceptable and ratepayers and residents are entitled to be concerned and to question the motives behind this given that similar boardwalk proposals have been rejected by Council, in 2005 and 2012 on environmental grounds and after community opposition.

The City has a responsibility to protect the 13.37 ha Quindalup coastal dune system under the Trigg Bushland Management Plan which is vested in the City under the Land Administration Act 1997 for its care, protection and management as a nature reserve with high conservation and community value. Class A classification provides the greatest degree of protection for reserved lands requiring an Act of Parliament to amend the reserve’s purpose or area.

Read the history of the previous attempts at boardwalks in 2005 and 2012 and the environmental values of the South Trigg Beach Reserve here.