This was revealed at a special briefing by the Busselton Foreshore Working Group and shire council, attended by the South West Development Commission (SWDC) last Friday.

Shire president Ian Stubbs said that the lessee of the Nautical Lady was keen to determine its future and the shire was getting an evaluation of the land on which it stood.

“It’s a very significant footprint and there is a long-term lease on it. It is an important part of the foreshore consideration,” Cr Stubbs said.

If it is decided that the Nautical Lady is an impediment to the foreshore redevelopment it is unlikely to be replaced by another theme park. However, the lease on it still has more than 30 years to go.

Group chair Helen Shervington told the gathering at the Equinox Cafe that “something like a theme park” would probably not squeeze its way through the group’s criteria in the redevelopment.

Nautical Lady lessee David Couch said it was early days to discuss its future.

“We’ve got a raft of options ahead of us. Foreshore plans seem to come and go. This is the sixth in 28 years.

“We’ve been here since 1981.”

He said the current lease, for 49 years, had been entered into in 1993.