EPA recommends approval for $280 million Yallingup project
The long-running fight against development at Smiths Beach in Yallingup has been dealt a major blow after the Environmental Protection Agency recommended the project be approved.
The EPA made public its recommendations to Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourne on Tuesday, five years after Adrian Fini-led developer Smiths 2014 Pty Ltd first submitted its proposal for the 42-hectare Smiths Beach Project.
The value of the project will be 280 million dollars in 2022It includes a hotel, wellness centre, 61 holiday homes, campground, community center and surf lifesaving club.
The recommendation comes six days after Swinbourne approved Saracen Properties’ 121-room five-star Westin resort and residential village at Gnarabup, south of the Smiths Beach area.
The EPA took the step of stating in its press release that “several members” of the EPA, including chairman Darren Walsh, had declared a conflict of interest regarding the Smiths Beach proposal and that they were “not involved in any relevant discussions and/or decisions.”
Walsh has a long history of working in the development industry, including Satterley Property Group and environmental consultancy JBS&G, which he used to prepare Fini’s application to the EPA.
Local residents have been fighting development in the area for more than two decades under the banner of Save Smiths Beach, citing concerns about the level of cleanup, fire risk, sewage impacts and environmental pollution. Use of the controversial State Development Assessment Unit to obtain planning approval.
The proposal has also come under criticism from the opposition and is involved in the ongoing opposition-led parliamentary inquiry into the Labor Government’s planning procedures.
EPA made its recommendation based on conditions related to wastewater management, cleanup, and stabilization of fauna habitat.
Those compensations proposed by Fini’s company included rehabilitation of western ring-tailed possum and black cockatoo foraging habitat in three areas within state government property.
Other conditions include a requirement that the developer manage weeds on the site, including Crown land, and within 50 meters of the development area.
“Maintaining habitat connectivity between vegetation within the development envelope and Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park is front and center of EPA requirements,” an EPA spokesperson said.
“Other measures in the Defender’s conservation-critical Fauna Management Plan and Offset Strategy address feral animal control, nearby offset areas and a community-based revegetation programme.
“And the conditions associated with secondary foraging and dispersal habitat for the western ring-tailed opossum include the requirement for a conservation agreement. This includes establishment costs and long-term management and maintenance costs.”
A spokesperson for the Smiths Beach Project welcomed the EPA’s decision and said the company would comply with the requirements.
“Our project team of leading Australian landscape designers and architects designed the coastal village, including the hotel and community facilities, in a manner that is sensitive to the environmental and cultural significance of the area,” he said.
“This brings us closer to realizing our vision for the project to create a world-class seaside village for the benefit of Western Australia and the South West – allowing the local community and visitors to this state to share and enjoy the best of our lifestyle and environment.”
Fini was behind Bunker Bay Resort, built south of Smiths Beach in 2004, and was running a development on the Smiths Beach site after purchasing it with several other families in 2014.
The previous owner’s proposal attracted the first iteration of the Save Smiths Beach community protest campaign; Locals claimed he won after the developer became embroiled in a Corruption and Crime Commission investigation along with several local councillors.
The building plan, approved with the proposal of the former owners, includes up to 500 tourism and residential houses, while the western side of the parcel will be transferred to the state government as a national park.
Fini’s new proposal has a larger footprint but less density; Fini has said in the past that this means better comfort and greater protection of vegetation.
Last year, Fini’s company removed a planned ramp at Smiths Beach over community concerns it would act as a “sea wall.”
EPA’s recommendation will be open during a three-week public appeal period.
Vasse MP Libby Mettam has been reached for comment.
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Hamish Hastie is WAtoday’s state political correspondent and the winner of five WA Media Awards, including the 2023 Beck Award for best political journalism.Connect with: X or email.
