Environmental advocates have requested a meeting with the Environment Minister Reece Whitby to try to stop a clearing permit going ahead for a surf park development. 

The Urban Bushland Council of WA made the request on Tuesday to oppose Aventuur’s $100 million plans for a wave park that will clear more than 3 hectares of banksia woodland in Jandakot.

UBC committee member Heidi Hardisty says there is still hope for change.

She says the first location for the park was Alfred Cove which received a “huge backlash” from the public.

“Environmentally speaking (the Jandakot site) is even worse,” she says.

In 2016, the State Government granted Aventuur a 21-year lease for the Jandakot site, and in 2023, the development company was given confirmation to continue moving forward by the Environmental Protection Authority of WA. 

An appeals process with the Office of Appeals has been underway since the EPAs approval and some are questioning whether a change to the location this late in the development process is still possible. 

On Thursday the UBC’s petition reached 7,480 signatures out of their 7,500 signature goal to move the location of the surf park. 

In its approval for the clearing permit, the EPA drew on a 2023 report by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. The report stated the clearing is to facilitate the construction of a 2.2-hectare open water wave lagoon, roads, carparks, amenity buildings, and other facilities.

The permit was granted following the Environmental Protection Act of 1986.

However, Mrs Hardisty says environmental laws are too vague as they fail to give companies clear guidelines on what they cannot do when it comes to the WA’s wildlife.

DWER says the surf park will affect Matters of National Environmental Significance including habitat for three black cockatoo species and should be referred to the Commonwealth for assessment under the EPBC Act.

The Department’s report says risks of the project can be “minimised and managed” and the clearing permit was granted subject to the conditions they consult a fauna specialist and rehabilitate vegetation, specifically those significant to the endangered Carnaby’s Cockatoos.

“We’ve cleared more than 80 per cent of (banksia woodlands) in Perth on the Swan Coastal Plane,” she says.

The Office of Appeals and WA’s Minister for Environment were contacted for comment but said they were unable to comment as the appeals process is underway. 

The DWER did not comment on whether moving the location of the park was possible, stating the matter is currently with the Independent Appeals Committee.

Once this investigation is complete, a final decision will be made by the Minister for Environment. 

Aventuur have been contacted for comment.