A planned $280 million luxury resort along an iconic stretch of Western Australia's coastline was deemed "fatally flawed" by the state's bushfire authority, freedom of information documents have revealed.
Perth businessman Adrian Fini is planning to build the resort at Smiths Beach, a well-known tourist and surfing hotspot in WA's South West food and wine region.
Documents obtained by the ABC reveal the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said in preliminary advice that the resort, located in a bushfire-prone region, would fail to comply with key planning requirements.
The concern was that the Smiths Beach settlement was only accessible by a single road, which DFES characterised as "fatally flawed".
Many coastal townsites in WA's south are also served by one road in and out but DFES said, as it was the case at Smiths Beach, the development failed to meet bushfire planning standards.
But the developer strongly disagreed, saying in a statement to the ABC the proposal would not increase bushfire risk and claimed it had produced measures that appropriately dealt with the threat.
"We believe that the coastal village will set a new standard for ensuring community safety during a bushfire response, including in the event that people cannot evacuate and are advised to stay where they are," the developer said.
DFES comments were part of correspondence with the developer in late 2020, but the agency refused to say whether it still held those concerns.
"Since this time, the applicant has prepared a new Bushfire Management Plan, which has been referred to DFES for formal comment as part of the consultation process for this application," the agency said in a statement.
Proposal deviates from planning laws
The developer plans to build holiday homes, accommodation, tourist facilities and a campground in the area.
It is making use of a state government COVID-19 recovery measure, which aimed to fast-track 'significant developments', through a mechanism known as the State Development Assessment Unit (SDAU).
The developers believed it was unfeasible to build a new public road into Smiths Beach, a view shared by other agencies involved in the planning process.
DFES was asked to provide preliminary advice on the plans as part of the SDAU process in an email chain obtained by the ABC.
DFES representative:
"Smiths Beach Road is a dead-end road that does not provide safe access to two different destinations … demonstration of compliance with … vehicular access is unlikely to be able to be achieved at this location."
SDAU representative:
"It would appear that DFES has the view that the development is fatally flawed? Given there is no secondary access to Caves Rd, nor is it within the ability of the developer to provide this, the development would be incapable of being approved from a fire management point of view?"
"Obviously, this would have significant implications for a development valued at north of $50 million."
DFES representative:
"Yes, your interpretation is consistent with DFES' view."
Fire shelter planned
As part of their proposed bushfire management plan, the developer intended to build a 'last-resort' refuge building in the event evacuation was not possible.
The developer said the shelter would hold more than 2,000 people and would also be open to the public.
"The successful experience of Bunker Bay in managing a bushfire response during 2022 demonstrates that the proposal put forward for the Smiths Beach coastal village is appropriate and practical," the developer said.
It also plans to provide a permanent water solution to the community through storage tanks and have emergency-trained staff on site at all times.
DFES does not have the power to block the proposal, with the final decision-maker being the WA Planning Commission (WAPC).
However, regulations state that the WAPC's reasoning "must be acceptable to DFES".
Local firefighters have 'genuine concerns'
The location of the Smiths Beach development meant if a fire were to break out, it would largely be a volunteer-firefighter-lead response, with the closest career firefighter station about an hour away in Bunbury.
President of the Bushfire Volunteers Association Dave Gossage said the development had raised eyebrows among local volunteers.
"They do live locally and as a volunteer they have a lot of genuine concerns about the impact this will have not only on their resources, but the pressures on them to be doing extra work to keep that community safe," Mr Gossage said.
"The most obvious thing here is that one road in and out issue. If that got approved like that, that is very irresponsible of the state."
Similar concerns had been raised by a community group campaigning against the development.
The group's spokesperson, David Mitchell, said the developer's planned mitigation of bushfire risk did not go far enough.
"The community has had long-held concerns about the fire risk in this area, and these FOI documents not only validate these concerns but also they note that DFES has the same concerns," Mr Mitchell said.
The proposal is out for public comment with the State Development Assessment Unit until Thursday, September 8.
Access issue a 'constant tension'
WA's Planning Minister Rita Saffioti said if DFES's logic were applied to existing communities, such as Yallingup, any development would be denied.
"If you look at the entire South West, in particular, coastal communities, most of them only have one road in and one road out," Ms Saffioti said.
"So that challenge of making sure they try and preserve as much of the natural environment, and then having access that means clearing, is a constant tension we have in development."
It was an issue the previous Barnett state government looked at in the aftermath of the devastating fires in Margaret River in 2011.
Then-transport minister Troy Buswell proposed secondary roads into the locked-off communities of Gnarabup, Gracetown and Yallingup.
But that idea went nowhere after unsuccessful periods of public consultation.
Mr Gossage said the state government should continue to look at ways of building secondary access to coastal communities.
"I'd certainly support those measures being investigated, especially in the current climate with the amount of fires that are now starting to get more frequent than they were in the past," he said.
"I think it's in the community's interest that the government of the day maybe start budgeting for rectification works in those spaces."
