Residents of the popular tourist town of Lancelin, 125 kilometres north of Perth, are increasingly alarmed that emergency measures being put in place to combat severe coastal erosion may not be enough to protect their community from the next major storm — with waves already lapping just metres from the local pub.
The Western Australian Government has committed to funding a sand nourishment program along the Lancelin coastline, where relentless wave action has stripped away fragile dunes at a rate that has shocked locals and business owners alike. The intervention forms part of a $460,000 coastal grant that will also fund the design of a rock wall and a broader coastal study.
A Town Bracing for What Comes Next
Despite the announcement of state funding, many in the community remain deeply uncertain about whether the sand dumping will buy them sufficient time. The Shire of Gingin, which is responsible for the coastal hazard management plan that the grant is designed to support, has not yet been advised of when it will receive the money — adding to the anxiety felt across the town.
Lancelin Sands Hotel owner Glen Trebilcock is among those watching events unfold with growing unease. His establishment sits perilously close to the water's edge as the shoreline continues to retreat. When the Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Jessica Stojkovski, visited Lancelin on Tuesday, she did not meet directly with local business owners — something Trebilcock said he would have appreciated.
The minister indicated that the government's role was to provide technical advice and funding in support of the shire's management plan, and that local stakeholders could engage directly with her department.
For resident Jemma Lang, who is in the process of building her dream home close to the hotel, the crisis has become deeply personal. She said she and her husband had already begun questioning whether to continue with construction at all.
Community Funds Its Own Defences While Waiting for Government Action
Well before state government support materialised, the Lancelin community had already taken matters into its own hands. Residents previously launched a grassroots fundraising campaign with a target of $150,000 to construct a seawall — money raised and spent by locals unwilling to wait.
Fundraising organisers have described the community's efforts to truck in sandbags and build makeshift defences as a measure that has bought some time, but falls well short of what is needed. They have been clear that what the town requires is a properly engineered structure capable of holding the line long-term — and that the full cost of that solution is firmly a responsibility for the state government.
"This isn't a stopgap pile of rocks — it's a properly engineered structure, sized to actually hold the line while we keep pushing for the larger, fully-funded coastal defence the town needs long-term," organisers said.
Residents Plan to Take the Fight to Perth
With frustration mounting and the timeline for funding delivery still unclear, locals are planning to bring their campaign directly to Perth later in July in a bid to escalate pressure on decision-makers.
Local business owner Kirsty Harding captured the mood of the community plainly, saying residents felt they had been overlooked for a long time and that the situation had now reached a critical point.
"It's very sad and the townspeople as a whole are really fearful," she said. "They feel like they've been ignored for a long time and it's got to this critical point."
With the dunes continuing to erode and storm season never far away, the people of Lancelin are watching their coastline — and their livelihoods — with a mixture of hope and dread.
