City of Rockingham votes to advocate Governments for Garden Island Highway feasibility study

Debate around the proposed Garden Island Highway turned to talks of war at the recent Rockingham council meeting.

Concerned residents turned up to the meeting on October 22 to voice concern about a potential development that could lead to the the long-discussed connection.

At the meeting, all but one councillor voted to endorse a motion to modify the city’s advocacy position on the highway based on recommendations made by the Cape Peron Transport Study.

They also voted to push for a feasibility study by the Government into building the highway to ease local traffic congestion.

During question time, multiple residents shared concerns that homes would be lost if the highway progressed.

However, mayor Deborah Hamblin was quick to reassure them that the motion was only to advance a feasibility study and would not give the go-ahead for the highway.

The renewed push and last week’s debate came more than 50 years after the Garden Island Highway was first proposed.

The city will ask the Federal Government to help fund an upgrade of the intersection of Safety Bay Road/Hymus Street, Point Peron Road and Parkin Street, and the westward extension of Point Peron Road to the entry of HMAS Stirling.

It will seek commitments from the Department of Defence, Main Roads WA, and the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage for feasibility studies to determine the viability of the Highway.

The Cape Person Transport study, commissioned by the city, recommended upgrades to pedestrian paths, extra parking at Point Peron and road improvements to reduce traffic impacts on Parkin Street and Safety Bay Road.

Cr Dawn Jecks made her objections to the highway known in a wide-ranging speech that touched on nuclear waste and the possibility of Rockingham becoming a target if Australia went to war.

“Tonight we’ve been looking at Cape Peron Transport study and proposed Garden Island Highway, these works are all being driven by the AUKUS proposal that is being foisted on the community,” she said.

“We haven’t consulted our residents prior to confirming support for the rotation of nuclear submarines so close to a densely populated area.

“We haven’t even dared to acknowledge that the AUKUS defence and security pact and nuclear submarines in our immediate vicinity makes Rockingham a target should hostilities break out.”

Cr Jecks was interrupted at this point by Cr Robert Schmidt, who cited standing orders and said what she was saying had no relevance to the highway proposal.

Ms Hamblin then asked Cr Jecks to speak only about the highway.

Cr Peter Hudson reiterated that the feasibility study would not result in houses being knocked down.

“The road reserve is an A Class reserve, that means there are no structures there,” he added.

“It’s high time the State and Federal governments got on with the job of funding this study.”

Cr Schmidt said the AUKUS pact, which will see US submarines based at Garden Island and hundreds of US sailors housed on the mainland, introduced the potential for a “catastrophic failure of the road network”, leaving people on Parkin Street unable to leave their homes.

He also took aim at a “misinformation campaign happening by particular individuals”... “that is leading to communities saying our homes are going to be destroyed”.

Cr Jecks said she simply posted on her Facebook page that “this matter was coming up”.