Lucky Bay camp ban fears

Mid West residents have expressed concern with the shire and council of Northampton over a proposal that would no longer allow camping in certain areas of Lucky Bay.

Earlier this year the State Government provided $1.5 million in funding to improve caravan and camping infrastructure at Irwin, Coorow, Dandaragan and Northampton.

In June, Northampton council was shown three proposals for a redevelopment at the bay, voting unanimously for “Option B”.

Under the proposal, camping would only be allowed at Halfway Bay and at Lucky Bay South, while most of the bay, including Lucky Bay itself, would have restricted access and only during the day.

Northampton Shire chief executive Garry Keeffe said the decision to allow camping in certain areas had been made due to excess rubbish and damage at the site.

“The council gets many, many complaints every year. It’s just getting wrecked,” he said.

“There’s a lot of rubbish being left behind including human waste.”

The proposal would see a formal camping area and facilities such as shade shelters and eco-friendly toilets established, a full-time caretaker employed and allow segregation between existing shacks and properties and short-term campers.

But according to the plans, “Option B” would also require the removal of some undisturbed remnant vegetation and the levelling of low-level sand dunes as well as place an increased pressure on shacks’ rubbish disposal facilities.

Geraldton resident Tony Somers said while he could understand that changes did need to be made to tackle the problem of rubbish at the site, he believed this did not have to come at the price of overnight camping.

“They’re talking about having a caretaker or ranger to make sure everyone does the right thing, but they could still have that person doing that even if the camp spots are on the actual beach itself,” he said.

“My main concern is the fact that we’re losing our actual camping at Lucky Bay itself.

“That’s all we want. We just want to be able to camp at Lucky Bay next to the water, overlook the ocean and get a breeze.”

While there have been a number of complaints on social media in relation to the proposal, the Shire said it had only received one official complaint thus far.

Mr O’Keefe said if members of the community had concerns they should do it appropriately and bring them to council.

The Shire has not yet determined a date when the site would be redeveloped.