SG121 Human Geography: Place, Environment and Society

Semester 2, 2016
The University of Notre Dame, Fremantle

Despite environmental consideration the Mangles Bay Marina Development

by Cedar Woods Properties Ltd focuses primarily on economic
advancement

Jaye Louise Hunter

20100904
 Point Peron is a long stretch of beach in Shoalwater, Rockingham Western

Australia. The area was named after the French naturalist and zoologist Franois Pron

who was a part of the expedition along the coast of Western Australia with Nicholas

Baudin in 1801 (Rockingham Museum, 2014). The Rockingham area was founded later

in 1847 and named after the last of Thomas Peels ships to arrive in the Cockburn

Sound area (Rockingham Museum, 2014). Point Peron, is a natural landscape situated

at the most southern end of the Cockburn Sound (Cannell, Pollock, Bradley, Wooller,

Sherwin & Sinclair, 2011). It is an area rich in natural beauty; with limestone caves and

cliffs, rock pools, reef and panoramic views (Hughes, 2011). It is also surrounded by the

beautiful Shaolwater Islands Marine Park, that covers an approximate area of 6658

hectares, stretching from Point Becher, 3 km off shore (including Penguin Island and

Seal Island) and to the North of Point Peron (Hughes, 2011). The area is home to an

abundance of both marine life and terrestrial wildlife including; Australian sea lions, fairy

turns and little penguins (Eudyptular Minor) (there are sixteen species of seabirds in

total) (Hughes, 2011). Not only is Point Peron and Shoalwater Islands Marine Park

abundant in wildlife but it has been a popular location for local residents for many years

and now is a fast growing tourist destination for people from all over the globe. Point

Peron has a new proposal, the development of Mangles Bay Marina by Cedar Woods

Properties Ltd; a destination of a five star marina, tourist, commercial, recreational and

residential development (Cedar Woods, 2016). The Development will have room for up

to 500 boat pens and a hub boasting restaurants, cafes, shops and accommodation

(Cedar Woods, 2016). Despite possible positive growth in the community as a result of

this development, the development's main focus is on economic advancement. This

essay supports the statement that the development of Point Peron, Shoalwater to

incorporate Mangles Bay Marina focuses primarily focuses on economic advancement

and the aim of this essay is to show how through vast research. This essay will look at

the impacts of the development on Point Peron, Lake Richmond and Shoalwater Islands

Marine park and how Cedar Woods Properties Ltd aims to reduce the impact, in

particular focusing on the impacts on environment, marine life and wildlife.

The development of the Mangles Bay Marina by Cedar Woods Properties Ltd

has positive intentions on being an environmentally friendly one and claims to not just

be an economic institution (Cedar Woods, 2016). The Mangles Bay Marina

development is to be built in the Point Peron regional park, an area of natural coast and

bushland sustaining a unique, threatened and critically endangered ecology (Hands off

Point Peron, 2016). Within this area there is the Shoalwater Islands Marine park,

Penguin Island and Seal Island and close by Lake Richmond which too will need to be

considered when planning and developing Mangles Bay Marina, as little environmental

impact as possible is encouraged (Wildflower Society of Western Australia, 2012).

The developers aim to preserve the Point Peron region by bringing in new

enhanced walkways, interpretive signage and rehabilitation vegetation, therefore overall

improving it as a public asset for more local residents, future generations and tourists to

enjoy (Cedar Woods, 2016). Along with these changes the development will also

prepare and implement a project that aims to rehabilitate 20 hectares of native

vegetation on Point Peron (Cedar Woods, 2016). The program will include; weed
control, seeding and planting of disturbed areas with local provenance (including

Lomandra) species, stabilisation of the dunes, fencing and the establishment of a

monitoring program (Cedar Woods, 2016). The vision of the Mangles Bay Marina is

founded with the need to protect the environment, the proposal secured approval in

2014 from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) following several years, from

2010 to 2014, of rigorous environmental assessment (Cedar Woods, 2016). Following

the environmental assessment Cedar Woods Properties Ltd agreed to a number of

modifications to the proposal process, these included: the shortening of one canal to

reduce hydrologic impacts and saline intrusion, reducing the depth of the navigation

channel by 0.5 metres in order to reduce seagrass loss from 5.66 hectares to 5.24

hectares, changing the location of the Lake Richmond outlet drain, reducing the

maximum depth of the Marina from -4m to -3.5m to improve flushing and increasing the

ratio of seagrass replanting (Cedar Woods, 2016; Environmental Protection Authority;

2014).

Mangles Bay Marina claims to have no impact on Lake Richmond and its rare

thrombolites, a range of mitigation measures and management have been adopted in

the recognition that the thrombolite communities are significant and to ensure the

proposal does not cause unacceptable impacts (Cedar Woods, 2016).

Despite all of this positive environmental engagement the Urban Bushland Council of

Western Australia (2012) declares that the Mangles Bay Marina development is

unacceptable in all forms and that the proposal is destructive. The thrombolites in Lake

Richmond represent the oldest living organisms on earth, the thrombolites are of
regional, national and international significance because of their age (they are

approximately 570 million years old) and their link to the evolution of plant life on Earth

(Urban Bushland Council of Western Australia, 2012). Lake Richmond is a particularly

fragile environment and the Cedar Woods Properties Ltd development of Mangles Bay

Marina is going to play with that, the proposed boundary of the Marina is only 200m

from the boundary of Lake Richmond (Cedar Woods, 2016). The canal development will

require large amounts of digging and dredging which will potentially disturb groundwater

relations and risk the intrusion of seawater into the fresh water of Lake Richmond

(Urban Bushland Council of Western Australia, 2012). This disturbance will cause bloom

of epiphytic and planktonic growth that will smother the thrombolites (Urban Bushland

Council of Western Australia, 2012). The Wildflower Society of Western Australia (2012)

report that adverse damage has been seen on other high value conservation sights

abundant in minerals in the southwest of Western Australia.

The thrombolites survival is dependent upon light and a continuous supply of fresh

(non-salty) water rich in calcium, bicarbonate and carbonate, which will come largely

from groundwater that has passed through the calcium rich dunes that surround the

lake. The details for this groundwater are not known by researchers.

(Urban Bushland Council of Western Australia, David Treloar 30 July, 2005).

 Another aspect of concern regarding the Mangles Bay Marina development is the

potential impact on Shoalwaters little penguin colonies (Cannell, et al. 2011). Cedar

Woods Properties Ltd will be implementing a number of strategies in order to ensure

colonies on both Penguin and Garden Island will be better off as a result of the project

(Cedar Woods, 2016). Restoration of the seagrass will be twice the amount of seagrass

that is impacted by the project to ensure the penguin foraging area stays stable, flora

and fauna as well as the little penguins will be aimed to be protected by improving

management of boating practices, increasing public awareness and education, the

erection of signage, limiting and sequencing dredging works (Cedar Woods, 2016).

Nature based tourism and recreation have been identified as prime opportunities to

educate people on natural areas and biodiversity related issues all while being

immersed in the nature (Hughes, 2011). In contrast, recreation and nature based

tourism are also activities that inflict significant damage on the environment and

subsequently degrade biodiversity (Hughes, 2011). At present Penguin Island alone

receives 90,000 visits annually, the island's primary management focuses on education

and conservation just as Cedar Woods Properties Ltd also plans to bring to the

community with their development (Hughes, 2011; Cedar Woods, 2016). It is reported

that visitors who are not focused primarily on learning and discovery will not be

receptive to interpretation while visiting Penguin Island (Ballantyne & Packer, 2005). In

accordance with this it was also found that island visitors there for active recreational

activities such as swimming, snorkelling, fishing or surfing were less interested in and

affected by the educational media (Hughes & Morrison-Saunders, 2005). Overall, this

means that the majority of recreational visitors left the island with little increased
awareness of its biodiversity and conservation compared to their prior knowledge

(Hughes, 2011). It is feared with the increase of visitors and population to the area with

the Mangles Bay Marina the little penguin colonies will be jeopardised further (Hands off

Point Peron, 2016). Concerns have been shown over a number of years due to

increased recreational use of the coastal marine habitat and increasing development;

there have been four times the number of dead penguins found between August 2011 to

December 2011, most of these deaths were caused by starvation and watercraft (Hands

off Point Peron, 2016). Between 2006 and 2010 we found an average of 12 dead birds

in the second half of the year, but in 2011 we found 49. (Dr Belinda Cannell, Murdoch

University, 2012). Sprat the little penguins usual food source for raising chicks was not

found in their diet at all in 2011, there are fewer eggs and offspring being produced and

the breeding population has dropped by almost 40% from 1600 in 2007 to 1000 in 2011

(Hands off Point Peron, 2016).

Cedar Woods Properties Ltd plan to have as little impact as possible on the

seagrass in the designated marina area (Cedar Woods, 2016). It is planned that

replanting of the seagrass at least twice the size of the area removed will be replanted

within five years of the commencement of the marina construction (Cedar Woods,

2016). Seagrass transplant trials were undertaken by Murdoch University Marine and

Freshwater Research Laboratory, it was found that the seagrass flourished successfully

(Cedar Woods, 2016). The Garden Island penguin bread exclusively in Cockburn Sound

the exact area Mangles Bay Marina sets to be located, they often bread in the seagrass

meadow adjacent to the proposed construction site, little penguins from Penguin Island
also feed in this seagrass area (Cannell, 2012). Since 1967 there has been a 77%

cumulative loss of seagrass meadows in the greater Cockburn Sound area with the

remaining meadows in a state of severe decline (Cannell, 2012). The marina

development proposes to remove a further 5.6 hectares of seagrass, bisecting what

currently remains (Ainsworth, 2014). Research has shown that bisecting the seagrass

could see it decimated altogether in Cockburn Sound, bisection has maximum negative

impact on a viable habitat (Ainsworth, 2014). Research shows that the proposed

replanting of seagrass by Cedar Woods Properties Ltd uses a method that has been

criticised widely by leading experts (Strategen, 2013). It is also reported that even if the

re-planting were to be successful, the transplant sites would take seven to ten years to

develop to full coverage (Strategen, 2013).

The proposed development of the Mangles Bay Marina in the Point Peron area of

Cockburn Sound, Rockingham by Cedar Woods Properties Ltd is one that has taken

into account the biodiversity hotspot thriving in rare and at risk flora and fauna (Cedar

Woods, 2016). The developers have done extensive research in order to help maintain

the environment and redevelop it, development plans have been changed and

education of conservation is said to be ongoing (Cedar Woods, 2016). The marina will

also bring greater public beach access, room for up to 500 boat pens as well as a social

hub for the Rockingham community and tourists alike consisting of restaurants, cafes,

shops and accommodation (Cedar Woods, 2016). Despite the possible positive growth

in the area, the majority of research shows that the development's impact on the

surrounding environment is a much higher cost, the area is host to unique and rare
flora fauna and significant marine and bird breeding ground sites (Hughes, 2012). The

destruction of ancient thrombolites and the habitat, breeding and feeding areas of the

Little Penguin are big enough reasons alone to not go along with the proposed

development, but alas the main reason for this development is economic advancement.

The proposed development is said to generate more than $1.3 billion of economic

benefits (Cedar Woods, 2016), it is unknown how much economic gain Cedar Woods

Properties Ltd will turn over from this development but it is guaranteed to be a large

sum, a sum worth killing for.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's

not. Dr. Seuss, The Lorax (1971).

Reference List

Ainsworth, M. (2014). Saving the penguins. Presented by Claire Moodie.

Canberra: ABC News. Retrieved from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-19/saving-

the-penguins/5757522

Ballantyne, R., & Packer, J. (2005). Promoting environmentally sustainable

attitudes and behaviour through free-choice learning experiences: what is the state of

the game? Environmental Education Research, 11(3), 281-295.

Cannell, B. (2012). Fine scale habitat use by little penguins in Cockburn Sound.

Penguin Consulting, Murdoch University, Western Australia.

 Cannell, B., Pollock, K., Bradley, S., Wooller, R., Sherwin, W., & Sinclair, J.

(2011). Augmenting mark-recapture with beach counts to estimate the abundance of

little penguins on Penguin Island, Western Australia. School of Biological Sciences and

Biotechnology, Murdoch University, 38, 491-500. doi: 10.1071/WR11042

Cedar Woods. (2016). Mangles Bay Marina. Retrieved from: www.cedarwoods.com.au

Dr. Seuss. (1971). The Lorax. Rendom House, New York.

Hands off Point Peron. (2016). Coastal Tourist Park not Canals. Retrieved from:

www.handsoffpointperon.com.au

Hughes, M. (2011). Blending a heritage of recreation and tourism with

conservation of natural heritage: an example from Penguin Island, Western Australia.

Journal of Heritage Tourism, 7(1), 1-11. doi: 10.1080/1743873X.2011.602685

Hughes, M., & Morrison-Saunders, A. (2005). Interpretation, activity participation

and environmental attitudes of visitors to Penguin Island, Western Australia. Society of

Natural Resources, 18(7), 611-624.

Rockingham Museum. (2014). Rockingham District Historical Society. Retrieved

from: rockinghammuseum.org.au
Strategen Environmental Consultants (2013). Detailed responses to matters raised in

submission of the Mangles Bay Per (prepared for on behalf of Cedar Woods). Retrieved

from: http://www.bushlandperth.org.au

Urban Bushland Council Western Australia. (2012). Mangles Bay Marina Based Tourist

Precinct public Environment Review. Retrieved from: bushland perth.org.au

Wildflower Society of Western Australia. (2012). Mangles Bay Marina Based Tourist

Precinct public Environment Review. Retrieved from: www.wildflowersocietywa.org.au