The Royal Perth Yacht Club’s $8.5 million plan to expand its river-bed lease has met strong opposition from the Swan River Trust, which believes the proposed marina expansion will not provide sufficient public benefit to outweigh the “alienation of the river”.
The redevelopment plan for the Crawley marina includes the replacement of fixed wooden pile jetties with floating jetties, creating an additional 60 pens at Matilda Bay, and upgrading the club’s hardstand area for environmental reasons.
The proposal would expand the RPYC’s riverbed lease by 24 per cent.
The Swan River Trust recommended against the expansion of the marina in March and has since recommended that Environment Minister Mark McGowan reject the club’s appeal.
RPYC general manager Stuart Walton said the club had been tied up for 18 months with planning approvals and that the process had been frustrating.
“The trust believes the expansion will be intrusive and restrict community access to the river, but this is simply not the case. We have no plans to increase the amount of foreshore land or make any major intrusion into the river,” Mr Walton told WA Business News.
In response to the trust’s statement that the yacht club was essentially a private marina, Mr Walton said the RPYC was not an exclusive club but welcomed non-members and undertook various community services.
Swan River Trust chairman Charlie Welker said the river was a community asset and must be carefully managed to ensure it was not slowly handed over to what amounted to private interests.
He said that, since 2001, the trust had adopted a policy that extensions to yacht clubs should be within existing leases or only on a minor in scale.
RPYC believes the 24 per cent increase fits this criterion and has provided the trust with scaled drawings and aerial photographs of the proposed expansion site.
Mr Walton said the redevelopment would not only make the marina more aesthetically pleasing but would make the boats easier and safer to access, also ensuring the hardstand area met environmental best practice standards.
Despite its opposition to any expansion of the marina, Mr Welker said the trust strongly supported renewal of the jetties and the hardstand upgrade, which would address issues of concern such as antifouling and oil drainage to the Swan River.
RPYC expects a report from the Appeals Convener within weeks, while the final decision will be made by Mr McGowan.
