Around 450 residents unleashed their fury at a community meeting on Sunday, fed up with the accumulation of segrass wrack on the western side of the Port Geographe groyne.
For 22 years residents have endured the effects of unnatural seagrass wrack along the coastline, in an area where they pay an additional 2 per cent special area rate to maintain the canals and coastline.
In 2013, the former state government invested $28 million to reconfigure the groyne at Port Geographe to address ongoing issues with seagrass wrack.
It was expected to take around four years to create a natural equilibrium, in which time sand would build up and seagrass would naturally bypass the area.
However, six years on there is currently 20,000 cubic metres of seagrass wrack accumulated on Western Beach.
The Department of Transport, who are responsible for the beachfront, won't intervene unless the wrack build up exceeded 60,000m3, as stipulated in its Environmental Monitoring and Management Plan.
Geographe resident Trudy Dawson's father fell through a section of the wrack in 2017, which went up to his armpits.
Ms Dawson said children and dogs had also fallen in and it would only be a matter of time before someone was seriously injured.
"The risk we all talk about when we come down here, I face it all the time," she said.
"Every time I go down to the beach I worry about the dog going over the seaweed when I just want the dog to go for a nice walk.
"Now I have to worry about my father who was not even on the edge of the beach when he fell in, he was further back in the sand area, he was just walking along and it gave way.
"It is a risk, it is a problem you do worry all the time. Other people have told me they have been in the same predicament but did not take a photo.
"People have spoken to me about their grandchildren who have run down to the beach and have fallen in and needed to be pulled out by their arms.
"It is our beach, let's have a beach, but we cannot go down there."
Port Geographe resident Geoff Hard said he was absolutely annoyed the DoT and minister did not front up to the community meeting calling on them to come down, jump off the seaweed and go for a swim.
"Then tell us how good it is because I think it is pathetic they have not come down here to speak with us today. I am annoyed about it," he said.
The department met with the City of Busselton last Thursday agreeing to establish a working group next year with technical experts to find solutions to fix the problem.
The department will also start work to move seagrass wrack and restore part of the sandy shoreline of Western Beach in time for the school holidays.
However a drone image taken on Friday shows seagrass wrack pushed back into the bay has started to accumulate at the entrance to the canals and has not washed away.
A petition with 1,047 signatures from residents demanding action will be handed over to parliament on December 10, 2019 by Vasse MLA Libby Mettam.
Ms Mettam said it was disappointing the minister and Department of Transport did not show up to the rally because it was a significant issue.
"The community of Port Geographe have suffered and felt the safety, amenity and health issues as a consequence of the unnatural accumulation of seagrass over the last 22 years," she said.
While that commitment from the DoT sounds like it is positive in some way, what we do need is a commitment to a new management plan for this area," she said.
"We do need a commitment from the State Government to change that management plan and trigger of works because this is clearly a state government responsibility and it is unacceptable for the ratepayers of this area to accept what we have here at the moment.
"This is not a ratepayer responsibility, it is a responsibility of the state government and we do need further action to ensure there is a long term plan put in place so we do not see the ongoing issues which have affected the residents of Port Geographe for the last 22 years.
"All the government have agreed to at the moment is the meeting of a working group next year, what we do need to see is a new long term strategy in place which will ensure there is a long term future for this area."
I want to express my absolute annoyance that the Department of Transport has not fronted up to this meeting. I am taxpayer and a ratepayer. They are up in Perth, why don't they get their asses down here have a look, jump off the seaweed, have a swim then tell us how good it is because I think it is pathetic they have not come down here to speak with us today. I am annoyed about it.
- Resident Geoff Hard
City of Busselton mayor Grant Henley said while he expected the realignment project of the groyne would eventually work it was clear that it hadn't in the short to medium term as hoped.
"A few years ago we had the first couple of years after the alignment where we were getting some natural bypassing and weren't getting a huge rate of accumulation and the people of Port Geographe could enjoy after a long period of time some much sort after beach amenity.
"Then we had the issues in 2016, and even worse in 2017.
"I think it is good the DoT is finally proposing to sit down with a technical working group which we will ensure has reasonable representation from the people most impacted.
"We will look to short, medium and long term goals that are sustainable and financed. If we do not have funding in the state government budget there is really not much point to it."
Transport minister Rita Saffioti said in the upcoming months further options to reduce accumulation of sea wrack would be considered.
"It should be noted that WA taxpayers have already spent tens of millions of dollars on this issue, including the previous government's $28 million groyne project in 2013," she said.
"Since then, constant monitoring and work to reduce wrack has taken place. For example, last year wrack dispersion works resulted in a good outcome for residents."
