The Busselton and Bunbury Clay Target Clubs have vowed to take a development application for a new premises located in Ludlow to the State Administrative Tribunal.
At the City of Busselton's council meeting last Wednesday, councillor's voted 5-3 in favour of an alternative motion to refuse the application because of unacceptable noise impacts and lead contamination risks.
City officers had recommended the application be approved provided the clay target clubs could meet a number of specific management plans to address issues associated with the sport.
The alternative motion, raised by mayor Grant Henley, also included a clause for the city to investigate a suitable location for ballistic clubs.
During the meeting, Mr Henley said while he empathised with the club he did not believe the Ludlow site was the right location.
He said the noise management plan was based on NSW guidelines written 25 years ago, and the location was too close to sensitive waterways.
Mr Henley said shooting clubs in the region were trying to find a suitable location for a regional ballistic centre which would cater for a range of rifle, pistol and clay target clubs in the South West.
Busselton Clay Target Club president Greg Fleay said they were disappointed their application was rejected after investigating 11 potential sites throughout the last 15 months.
Mr Fleay said city officers had gone out of their way to help the clubs' application be approved at council and they had sought expert advice including the impacts to flora and fauna.
"When we say 'to be approved' we knew we still had criteria to meet once the development application was approved, which we would have worked on with the city," he said.
"We had a lot of objective evidence which we submitted and it just seemed to be disregarded, we found out on the morning of the meeting that the application was being opposed."
At the meeting a number of nearby property owners to the Coolilup Road site voiced their concerns about the location citing lead contamination and the risk of contamination in the Ludlow River after potential flooding.
Mr Fleay said it was a lot of hearsay and no substantial facts were presented to backup their concerns.
"If the council needed more information from us they never actually asked us, we met everything they required in the DA," he said.
