“Give him back his money….. and save Gnarabup”

A pledge to empower our Community to keep Gnarabup natural.

This pledge campaign is an opportunity for you to pledge some money that will be become part of a community contribution towards the cost of keeping Gnarabup headland undeveloped.

Gnarabup beach and headland is a stunning stretch of coast near Margaret River - it's Margaret River's town beach. The only protected, safe swimming beach on a coast famous for its big swell. It's a small bay that's so heavily used by the community it can be hard to get a carpark even in winter.

Last year, a company led by property developer Luke Saraceni bought five lots of land on the Gnarabup headland for $5.5 million. Now Saracen Properties want to develop a resort and housing estate on the headland.

The subdivision of these lots was approved more than ten years ago despite more than a decade of opposition by the community. This occurred at a time when we didn’t fully understand the impact of rising sea levels and climate change on this area, and the enormous biodiversity importance of this environment.

Community campaign Preserve Gnarabup has asked the Shire Augusta-Margaret River to act on the knowledge we now have of this land and amend its Local Planning Scheme 1 to reserve the Lots as “Parks and Recreation” reserve for a public purpose or to compulsorily acquire (purchase) the land for foreshore reserve.

The nearby Shire of Busselton has recently done something similar, reserving large sections of coastal land on Geographe Bay. Land that will be impacted by rising sea levels.

We need you to help gain Council support......

Spending large amounts of money is a big decision for the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River. Preserve Gnarabup is calling for Pledges from people who love Gnarabup as it is. People like you! We know there are many of you - locals, and others located all over Australia and the World - who have enjoyed time and have special memories of Gnarabup. 

Money pledged will be offered to the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River to help pay the cost of compensating the landowner if the Shire decides to reserve the land from development or compulsorarily acquire. We hope this community investment will encourage Councillors to support the proposal when they come to vote. They are due to consider the matter on 9 December.

So, let’s "put our money where our mouth is", "some skin in the game", and make a Pledge to keep Gnarbup natural.

We all have different means, please only commit what you can afford.

Why it’s important to keep Gnarabup as it is 

We all enjoy the wild beauty of this undeveloped headland. Visitors from around Australia, international tourists and locals alike, love this stretch of coast - where we can swim, hike, launch a boat and go for a "SUP" in this protected bay, surrounded by spectacular limestone headland and coastal heath growing over the land.

There are very few protected and safe swimming beaches on this coast. Many generations of local people have learnt to swim in its protected bay – reaching back to the local Indigenous people, the pioneering Bussell family, through the Depression-era hard-working returned soldier group settlement communities, the dairy farmers and more recent communities.

We believe it is worth more as it is to the local community, as a natural tourist attraction for the local tourism industry and to the flora and fauna living on the land, than it will be if developed for housing and a resort. We know the lots are home to a population of the critically endangered Western Ringtail Possum and also include an Aboriginal Heritage place that has been lodged on the WA Government's Registrar of Aboriginal Sites on advice of local Traditional Owners.

What it will cost……

The development company owns the lots and has the right under law to develop them. We, as the community, are asking the Shire and the State Government to take away those rights. This means that, under law, the owner must be compensated.

If Council votes to reserve the land or compulsorily aquire the lots, the Shire will need to compensate the owner of the land for the reservation or pay for the land. Our legal advice is that, given the mechanisms set out clearly in the WA Planning and Development Act 2005, either option (reservation or aquisition/purchase) will cost approximately the same amount or a little more than the owner paid for the lots - $5.5million. We think this price, though an enormous amount for most of us as individuals, is incomparable to the value of the Gnarabup headland if it remains undeveloped.

All money Pledged by the community via this campaign will be offered to the Shire to help pay for compensation or the purchase price of the land.

Stretch targets……..

Raising this kind of money is a big job. That’s why we are setting ourselves a series of goals. Our first pledge target is to reach commitments to give $100,000 before the Council considers the proposed amendment on 9 December 2020. Ultimately - if we could get a little assistance from everyone who loves Gnarabup - we would like to far exceed this target, and therefore will be increasing the target as we reach each milestone. Additional targets will depend on the momentum of the Pledge as well as any feedback we receive from the Council.

This campaign is set up as an all or nothing campaign. If we don't reach the initial $100,000 target or if the Council votes against reserving/compulsorily acquiring the land we won't collect any of the pledges made. That is, your pledge need only be honoured if the intial target is met & the Council accepts the proposal.

Please note this campaign will run until we have a final decision from Council on the proposed amendment. While we understand the Council is expected to consider the matter on 9 December 2020, it may take longer for a decision on reserving or purchasing the land to be made.

If you want to pledge but not via credit card, please contact us on [email protected] and we will record your Pledge. We will only call on you to honour your Pledge if the Council votes to reserve or compulsorily acquire the land.

If you pledge via credit card on this site, your card will be deducted at the end of the campaign. However, if the Council votes not to reserve or compulsorily acquire the land, your money will be returned to you (minus the small fee taken by your credit card for the original transaction).

All pledges paid will be a tax-deductible donation and you will receive a tax receipt. We have partnered with the Conservation Council WA which will and funds will be collected and held via its Trust account. A maximum of 5% of funds raised will be retained for future Conservation Council WA work.

You can elect whether you would like to publish your support for the pledge campaign on our page or keep your support confidential.

You can find out more about our campaign at https://preservegnarabup.org.au or on Facebook & Instagram @Preserve Gnarabup