The State Government will manage a popular camping area in the Midwest until a landmark Indigenous Land Use Agreement is finalised.
The Lucky Bay reserve, about 40-kilometres south of Kalbarri, is part of the Yamatji Nation native title claim and will be transferred to an Aboriginal Corporation as a tourism opportunity.
Northampton Shire CEO Garry Keeffe said stepping away from the camp site after three years was a difficult decision to make.
"Until that corporation is established, the State Government has directed the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) to manage the area, including the camping and that all applies as from the first of July 2020," he said.
It is expected to take about two years for the corporation to be formally established.
"It does cost the council some $70-odd thousand dollars a year to operate," Mr Keeffe said.
"It's not a money making venture, so that's a welcoming aspect of it that we don't have to worry about that cost.
Offer to government
He said a request by the shire to continue operating the site was rejected.
"Certainly we're a little disappointed that basically we were told to go," he said.
"We made an offer to the State Government that we could operate it until the Native Title claimant came on board if the State Government were to refund the cost to council but that wasn't to be."
Mr Keeffe said the council had invested about $190,000 into establishing caretaker facilities at the site and these would be leased back to the DBCA.
The Yamatji Nation Claim covers a landmass of nearly 48,000 square kilometres in WA's Midwest region from as far north as Kalbarri, east to Yalgoo and south to Dalwallinu.
