❓ The Minister for Planning outlines the resolution of a complex legal issue regarding private ownership of a section of the Serpentine River, including the acquisition of land for public access and facilities.
AnsweredQoN 671Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SERPENTINE RIVER — INFRASTRUCTURE
My question is to the minister for planning and infrastructure. There has been a longstanding complex legal issue in the Shire of Murray specifically related to infrastructure along the Serpentine River, such as jetties and public buildings. Can the minister please outline what he is doing to resolve the matter? Mr J.H.D. DAY
My question is to the minister for planning and infrastructure. There has been a longstanding complex legal issue in the Shire of Murray specifically related to infrastructure along the Serpentine River, such as jetties and public buildings. Can the minister please outline what he is doing to resolve the matter? Mr J.H.D. DAY
AnswerView source ↗
I am very happy to answer this question as the Minister for Planning. Indeed, there has been a positive outcome to what has been a longstanding and complex issue in relation to land and approximately five kilometres of the Serpentine River in the Barragup and Furnissdale areas, just south of Goegrup Lake. I think most people who know that area would agree that the Serpentine River and the adjacent land have high community and environmental values. There has been a rather unusual situation in which this part of the river, as well as the adjacent land, has been in private ownership. It is not unusual for the banks of a river to be in private ownership, but it is certainly unusual for a river itself to be in private ownership. In addition, the land in question has been reserved under the Peel region scheme for inclusion as part of the Peel regional park. I am pleased to say that following negotiations by the Western Australian Planning Commission, agreement has been reached with the owners for the acquisition of 141 hectares, including the river over that five-kilometre stretch, at a cost of more than $7 million. The purchase was settled in June this year. In acquiring the land, the issue of the status of the jetty licences and public facilities has also been resolved. Those facilities will now be managed in the usual way, allowing the usual access by the WA Planning Commission and the Department of Planning. I am also pleased to say that the commission is now working with the former owner of the land, who is undertaking a residential development on the remaining privately owned land, to identify the location for the construction of some common-user jetties and also a riverside kiosk. There will be substantial benefits to the community in the local area and more widely as a result of this acquisition, including the fact that there will now be much greater clarity about the status of jetty, the licences and the public facilities and about who will manage them. Public access will be provided on that stretch of the river and the foreshore, and more public facilities will be provided, including a kiosk in the future and other facilities so that there can be much better community access and public use of this important part of the Serpentine River and the adjacent land.
Mr J.H.D. DAY replied: I am very happy to answer this question as the Minister for Planning. Indeed, there has been a positive outcome to what has been a longstanding and complex issue in relation to land and approximately five kilometres of the Serpentine River in the Barragup and Furnissdale areas, just south of Goegrup Lake. I think most people who know that area would agree that the Serpentine River and the adjacent land have high community and environmental values. There has been a rather unusual situation in which this part of the river, as well as the adjacent land, has been in private ownership. It is not unusual for the banks of a river to be in private ownership, but it is certainly unusual for a river itself to be in private ownership. In addition, the land in question has been reserved under the Peel region scheme for inclusion as part of the Peel regional park. I am pleased to say that following negotiations by the Western Australian Planning Commission, agreement has been reached with the owners for the acquisition of 141 hectares, including the river over that five-kilometre stretch, at a cost of more than $7 million. The purchase was settled in June this year. In acquiring the land, the issue of the status of the jetty licences and public facilities has also been resolved. Those facilities will now be managed in the usual way, allowing the usual access by the WA Planning Commission and the Department of Planning. I am also pleased to say that the commission is now working with the former owner of the land, who is undertaking a residential development on the remaining privately owned land, to identify the location for the construction of some common-user jetties and also a riverside kiosk. There will be substantial benefits to the community in the local area and more widely as a result of this acquisition, including the fact that there will now be much greater clarity about the status of jetty, the licences and the public facilities and about who will manage them. Public access will be provided on that stretch of the river and the foreshore, and more public facilities will be provided, including a kiosk in the future and other facilities so that there can be much better community access and public use of this important part of the Serpentine River and the adjacent land.
I am very happy to answer this question as the Minister for Planning. Indeed, there has been a positive outcome to what has been a longstanding and complex issue in relation to land and approximately five kilometres of the Serpentine River in the Barragup and Furnissdale areas, just south of Goegrup Lake. I think most people who know that area would agree that the Serpentine River and the adjacent land have high community and environmental values. There has been a rather unusual situation in which this part of the river, as well as the adjacent land, has been in private ownership. It is not unusual for the banks of a river to be in private ownership, but it is certainly unusual for a river itself to be in private ownership. In addition, the land in question has been reserved under the Peel region scheme for inclusion as part of the Peel regional park. I am pleased to say that following negotiations by the Western Australian Planning Commission, agreement has been reached with the owners for the acquisition of 141 hectares, including the river over that five-kilometre stretch, at a cost of more than $7 million. The purchase was settled in June this year. In acquiring the land, the issue of the status of the jetty licences and public facilities has also been resolved. Those facilities will now be managed in the usual way, allowing the usual access by the WA Planning Commission and the Department of Planning. I am also pleased to say that the commission is now working with the former owner of the land, who is undertaking a residential development on the remaining privately owned land, to identify the location for the construction of some common-user jetties and also a riverside kiosk. There will be substantial benefits to the community in the local area and more widely as a result of this acquisition, including the fact that there will now be much greater clarity about the status of jetty, the licences and the public facilities and about who will manage them. Public access will be provided on that stretch of the river and the foreshore, and more public facilities will be provided, including a kiosk in the future and other facilities so that there can be much better community access and public use of this important part of the Serpentine River and the adjacent land.
I am also pleased to say that the commission is now working with the former owner of the land, who is undertaking a residential development on the remaining privately owned land, to identify the location for the construction of some common-user jetties and also a riverside kiosk. There will be substantial benefits to the community in the local area and more widely as a result of this acquisition, including the fact that there will now be much greater clarity about the status of jetty, the licences and the public facilities and about who will manage them. Public access will be provided on that stretch of the river and the foreshore, and more public facilities will be provided, including a kiosk in the future and other facilities so that there can be much better community access and public use of this important part of the Serpentine River and the adjacent land.
Mr J.H.D. DAY replied: I am very happy to answer this question as the Minister for Planning. Indeed, there has been a positive outcome to what has been a longstanding and complex issue in relation to land and approximately five kilometres of the Serpentine River in the Barragup and Furnissdale areas, just south of Goegrup Lake. I think most people who know that area would agree that the Serpentine River and the adjacent land have high community and environmental values. There has been a rather unusual situation in which this part of the river, as well as the adjacent land, has been in private ownership. It is not unusual for the banks of a river to be in private ownership, but it is certainly unusual for a river itself to be in private ownership. In addition, the land in question has been reserved under the Peel region scheme for inclusion as part of the Peel regional park. I am pleased to say that following negotiations by the Western Australian Planning Commission, agreement has been reached with the owners for the acquisition of 141 hectares, including the river over that five-kilometre stretch, at a cost of more than $7 million. The purchase was settled in June this year. In acquiring the land, the issue of the status of the jetty licences and public facilities has also been resolved. Those facilities will now be managed in the usual way, allowing the usual access by the WA Planning Commission and the Department of Planning. I am also pleased to say that the commission is now working with the former owner of the land, who is undertaking a residential development on the remaining privately owned land, to identify the location for the construction of some common-user jetties and also a riverside kiosk. There will be substantial benefits to the community in the local area and more widely as a result of this acquisition, including the fact that there will now be much greater clarity about the status of jetty, the licences and the public facilities and about who will manage them. Public access will be provided on that stretch of the river and the foreshore, and more public facilities will be provided, including a kiosk in the future and other facilities so that there can be much better community access and public use of this important part of the Serpentine River and the adjacent land.
I am very happy to answer this question as the Minister for Planning. Indeed, there has been a positive outcome to what has been a longstanding and complex issue in relation to land and approximately five kilometres of the Serpentine River in the Barragup and Furnissdale areas, just south of Goegrup Lake. I think most people who know that area would agree that the Serpentine River and the adjacent land have high community and environmental values. There has been a rather unusual situation in which this part of the river, as well as the adjacent land, has been in private ownership. It is not unusual for the banks of a river to be in private ownership, but it is certainly unusual for a river itself to be in private ownership. In addition, the land in question has been reserved under the Peel region scheme for inclusion as part of the Peel regional park. I am pleased to say that following negotiations by the Western Australian Planning Commission, agreement has been reached with the owners for the acquisition of 141 hectares, including the river over that five-kilometre stretch, at a cost of more than $7 million. The purchase was settled in June this year. In acquiring the land, the issue of the status of the jetty licences and public facilities has also been resolved. Those facilities will now be managed in the usual way, allowing the usual access by the WA Planning Commission and the Department of Planning. I am also pleased to say that the commission is now working with the former owner of the land, who is undertaking a residential development on the remaining privately owned land, to identify the location for the construction of some common-user jetties and also a riverside kiosk. There will be substantial benefits to the community in the local area and more widely as a result of this acquisition, including the fact that there will now be much greater clarity about the status of jetty, the licences and the public facilities and about who will manage them. Public access will be provided on that stretch of the river and the foreshore, and more public facilities will be provided, including a kiosk in the future and other facilities so that there can be much better community access and public use of this important part of the Serpentine River and the adjacent land.
I am also pleased to say that the commission is now working with the former owner of the land, who is undertaking a residential development on the remaining privately owned land, to identify the location for the construction of some common-user jetties and also a riverside kiosk. There will be substantial benefits to the community in the local area and more widely as a result of this acquisition, including the fact that there will now be much greater clarity about the status of jetty, the licences and the public facilities and about who will manage them. Public access will be provided on that stretch of the river and the foreshore, and more public facilities will be provided, including a kiosk in the future and other facilities so that there can be much better community access and public use of this important part of the Serpentine River and the adjacent land.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.