Dune park plan splits Lancelin

An hour-and-a-half drive north of Perth, a 10ha patch of sand and scrub has become a fault line in the town of Lancelin.

Plans for a tourist park on the coastal site has Lancelin facing the small-town dilemma of how to balance the economic need for tourism with the desire to preserve what makes it special.

Those in favour of the proposed park, which could include a caravan park, pool, tennis courts and eco-safari tent accommodation, say it will deliver much-needed tourist traffic to a town hard hit by the introduction of rock lobster quotas.

Those in the other camp say they can see merit in the idea but believe the location, 150m back from the beach, will compromise the environment and the town's amenity.

They argue it could be moved further from the coast, or one of the town's two caravan parks be developed instead.

_The West Australian _ spent a day in Lancelin and found a pleasantly sleepy town where the beaches are cherished, the strong winds tolerated and the school holidays influx means there is a lunchtime line at the bakery.

But it is also a town full of rumours, tension and allegations being aired on rival Facebook pages.

Rhonda Catchpole has lived in Lancelin for 40 years, runs the Suntique surfwear boutique and says without something like the park, the town is on borrowed time.

For the first time this year she is considering shutting the shop for a few months over winter.

"What you make over the summer is not enough for the business to survive," she says.

As a business owner she hopes an influx of tourists could boost trade. As a resident she hopes it could also bring local jobs.

Neighbouring business owners John Brinklow, who has run the pharmacy for the past eight years, and newsagency owner Frank Peczka agree.

Mr Brinklow says when Indian Ocean Drive was completed it was expected to bring more visitors to Lancelin.

Instead, he says they saw caravans drive in and straight out again, presumably because of a lack of facilities or better ones in nearby towns.

Thomas Cameron's family has had a holiday home at Ledge Point for 25 years.

He can see the argument in favour of a park but says he has "a lot of environmental concerns" about the proposed location, given the fragility of the dunes.

"To build a caravan park right on the dune system seems to be short-sighted to me," he says.

"Lancelin's best asset, to me, is that beautiful coast environment. We're not against a caravan park, it's just where it's going to go.

"At this stage it's really splitting the community in half."

Wrestling with a sail beside the trailer from which he hires paddleboards and windsurfers, Werner Lortsche is a part of Lancelin history: he claims to have been among the first to windsurf there.

He can see the business sense of a new park but wants to see more of a buffer between the park and nearby residents, which include himself.

"I think the site we're doing now is too close to the residential area," he says.

"We need something. The idea of a new caravan park is really good but it (the location) is really not my favourite."

Some argue the park could be moved further from the coast.

The counter argument is that it needs to be walking distance from town for local businesses to reap the benefits.

There is also a case for redeveloping one of the town's caravan parks instead.

Just why that is not viable depends on to whom you talk but one lease is scheduled to expire in 2016 - and the site redeveloped - and the other has been in limbo since the collapse of an unrelated redevelopment plan.

Where everyone seems to agree is that Lancelin needs more tourists, and a caravan park-focused development makes sense.

That view is backed by a Tourism WA-commissioned report that identified Lancelin as lacking caravan and camping infrastructure and the proposed site as suitable for such facilities.

It is still early days.

The Shire of Gingin has released for public comment a local planning scheme amendment to rezone the site from Crown land.

If the rezoning goes ahead, the shire would seek expressions of interest for a private developer to step in, potentially as soon as this year.

Gingin shire president Michael Aspinall says if the park goes ahead, it will probably be at least three years before stage one is completed.

At this stage it's really splitting the community in half." Thomas Cameron