Plea to "save Bunbury's brand" by turning back on coal voted down

Councillor Brendan Kelly presented the motion to at Tuesday night’s council meeting, saying coal was not the right step forward for a new-look Bunbury.

“It is my view that every activity in Bunbury must have a social licence to operate,” Mr Kelly said.

 “The latest concern is that the coal exports will have a negative impact on the lifestyle, amenities and welfare of this city.

“Coal exports in my view will only demean our brand, our brand of Bunbury, and disparage our efforts so far.”

Bunbury Mayor Gary Brennan spoke against the motion.

“This is not about respect or passion for exporting coal, this is about what is practical, what is lawful and what we can honestly do in a legal sense,” Mr Brennan said.

“The legislation governing importing or exporting goods through our port, any port in Western Australia is covered by state and federal legislation.”

Mr Brennan spent five years as a Bunbury Port Authority board member.

“If this motion is supported by council tonight it will have absolutely no impact on the import or export of goods through our port," he said. 

“We need to consider all our stakeholders and what message... we send to people if that motion is accepted.”

Mr Kelly also moved a second motion to formally request the WA government to fast track the construction of a purpose built container handling facility.

He said allowing container ships to access Bunbury port would provide a strong alternative to coal exports.

“The possibility of a regular container ship service to and from Bunbury has been talked about for many, many years, too many years," he said. 

“I’m asking that we move with the times as a councillor. This is a measure of our commitment to being the clean, green gateway to the South West and it’s a measure to our commitment to the future of Bunbury.”

The second motion was moved successfully.

Griffin Coal plans to export 15 million tonnes per year from a purpose built Bunbury Port terminal to India.