State picks up $1.5m bill at Port Geographe

The Barnett government has picked up the $1.5 million annual bill to clean up the build up of sea grass at the failed Port Geographe canal and marina development near Busselton.

The government has assumed the clean-up responsibility at the long-running and controversial project from developers Axiom Properties and MacSea, a 50-50 joint venture between Macquarie Bank and Saracen Properties. 

It says Axiom and MacSea failed to meet coastal maintenance work obligations. 

Complex talks were continuing on how to finally reconfigure the four groynes at the development, which have been consistently blamed for causing the build up of sea grass.

The development has been stalled since 2009 and earlier this year the developers appointed PPB Advisory as the administrator to the development.

In late June, Axiom shareholders voted in favour of  PPB’s proposal to liquidate Axiom subsidiary, Tallwood Nominees, which owns Axiom’s 40 per cent stake in the development.

Mining and earthmoving contractor, VMS, has been awarded the clean-up contract and is expected to complete the job by mid-October.

It will remove up to 150,000 cubic metres of sea grass from the Port Geographe groyne and supply sand to the beach at Wonnerup.

In a statement last Friday, treasurer Troy Buswell said: “The state government and the City of Busselton are also progressing complex commercial negotiations with the administrator and financiers of the Port Geographe project with the aim of achieving a long-term solution to the coastal management issues.

“The reconfiguration of the groynes at Port Geographe is required to improve the long-term sustainability of the development and arrangements for these works are a key part of the negotiations currently taking place.”

Mr Buswell’s office and the City of Busselton declined to comment further.

Previous estimates have quoted the reconfiguration of the groynes at $40 million.

Since opening in 1997 Port Geographe has had a long history of problems and the government’s involvement has lifted the hopes of Busselton Mayor Ian Stubbs, who is keen to see the matter resolved.

In March, he said on his online forum that the study into the weed and sand movements in the development had been completed and the Department of Transport had determined what it thought was the right configuration of the groynes. “The study cost well over $1 million, this barrier to doing something positive is no longer present,” Mr Stubbs said.

He said negotiations around the groyne’s configuration had been “going on for some time (and) they must be drawing to a conclusion”.

But six months on, talks are still continuing.