Capel council continue to fight Bunbury Outer Ring Road with letter to Rita Saffioti

Shire president Michael Southwell moved a motion asking the chief executive officer to prepare a letter which would be sent transport minister Rita Saffioti, once again outlining the council opposition to the route.

The letter will address the importance of quarantining valuable basalt resources located around Allendale Road, planned to be used by the Shire for coastal erosion mitigation.

While speaking to the motion, Cr Southwell read out a letter the council had recently received from minister Saffioti, in regards to the alternative alignment the council suggested in July.

It was suggested the Outer Ring Road should extend the existing middle section of the ring road down Centenary Avenue, past the Bunbury prison and along an existing road corridor to link up with the Bussell highway.

"The alternative proposal is noted and considered unsuitable for fulfilling the projects planning requirements," Ms Saffioti said in the letter.

"I can confirm the project will progress on the original southern section route."

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The letter from the Shire outlining the quarantining of basalt resources by the Bunbury Outer Ring Road southern route, will be sent to both Infrastructure Australia and Infrastructure Western Australia, the state and federal ombudsman, Premier Mark McGowan and cabinet ministers, the mayors and councilors of the cities of Bunbury and Busselton and the Peron Naturaliste Partnership.

The motion for the Chief Executive Officer Gordon MacMile to prepare and send the letter was based on a report researched and prepared by Councilor Kieran Noonan.

Cr Noonan said coastal erosion was predicted to occur over the next 80 years in 'far greater proportion', to the point where 30,000 residents and businesses along the coast of Rockingham, Bunbury and Busselton would be affected.

"As councilors we need to prepare for coastal mitigation by quarantining essential resources such as the basalt which is needed to build coastal structures such as sea walls.

"It's beholden on us as councilors to prepare for the future and keep in mind our future generations," Cr Noonan said.

He noted how the City of Busselton currently had over 40 sea walls along the coast in varying sizes.

"At present we don't have any, but we need to be mindful that over 13 million tonnes of basalt, that is scheduled to be buried beneath the Outer Ring Road, is a major resource for building these sea walls.

"It's important that we bring this to the governments attention and to the attention of those people on the list," Noonan said.

Councilor Doug Kitchen voted against the motion and said whilst he agreed basalt was an important resource for the region, the proposed alternative route had the potential to sterilise other raw materials under the road including titanium-zircon, which is commonly used as a pigment to whiten paint and paper.

"I do support asking questions like what will happen to the basalt and I have supported those motions in the past," Cr Kitchen said.

"But considering this is attaching another route that will sterilise a resource in another area, it's not really achieving what I think the intention is."

Cr Noonan hit back at the suggestion of sterlisation and said the suggested route did not negate the possibility of mining titanium or other mineral resources.

"If the route goes where the government has proposed, basalt will not be able to mined."

Cr Southwell said the suggestion by the Shire of the alternative route only required one extra lane each way to be added to Centenary Avenue.

"Our suggestion, which the Transport Minister doesn't like, only needs one extra lane and then the job is done. The Outer Ring Road gets people around Bunbury and back onto Bussell Highway. It's just a little bit further north, but then the trees in Gelorup and the basalt resources will be saved," Cr Southwell said.

"I think we've been closer to this and aware of this issue more than a member of parliament sitting up in Perth."

The motion to send the letter was carried six to two, with Councilors Kitchen and Scott voting against.