Dunsborough community promises to boycott a convenience store which sells fuel

Last week, an application to develop the store on the corner of Dunn Bay Road and Cyrillean Way was knocked back for the second time in a year by the Southern Joint Development Assessment Panel.

The developers and Puma Energy now plan on taking the application to the State Administrative Tribunal seeking approval to build a petrol station under the guise of a convenience store to bypass a local planning scheme and zoning use.

According to residents, the controversial development would be the third petrol station within 200 metres of each other in the small town centre, which is already subject to traffic gridlock in peak tourist times.

Dunsborough residents Tony Sharp and Trish Flower have started a petition which they plan on giving to the proponents and Puma Energy in a bid to stop their SAT application.

Mr Sharp said the community would attempt to influence the developers and Puma Energy to stop proceeding with the development but their chances were slim.

“The owners are motivated by trying to make as much money as possible on this site,” he said.

Mr Sharp said the application was fought out earlier this year and the state solicitor’s office lost which is why the application changed from a petrol station to a convenience store. 

“It is ridiculous. It is just a legal fiction. A convenience store means it is a permitted development which means it is very hard to stop.”

Part owners of the land and Primewest director Jim Litis said they would not be able to work with the community on finding another development opportunity for the site because they already had a contractual obligation with Puma Energy.

Mr Litis said other options had been explored and came to an end, and they had tried to include elements into the design to get close to what the community were looking for.

Vasse MP Libby Mettam said she could understand why many people did not support a new service station in the middle of Dunsborough “adding to congestion”.

Ms Mettam said the issue had now become one of landowners rights under the law and it was important to allow due process to take its course.

She said the State Administrative Tribunal would review the decision that was made and consider planning matters based on the content of the relevant local planning scheme and the zoning and land use permissibly established in the scheme.

“Previously planning decisions were appealable to the Minister,” she said.

“SAT was deliberately established to take the politics outside of this decision-making process.”