Surfing Lessons with Trigg Beach

Justification for the re-opening and extension of the Public information and consultation period and process:

Re: Proposed boardwalk.

Splash: 2
 
 
🚨 Imperative Demand for the Reopening and Extension of the Scarborough–Trigg Boardwalk Proposal Consultation
We formally demand the immediate reopening and extension of the public consultation process for the Scarborough–Trigg Coastal Boardwalk proposal. The initial consultation was fundamentally flawed, structurally inadequate, and unrepresentative of the Western Australian public. It failed to meet the basic democratic standards of transparency, proper engagement, and genuine assessment of public well-being.
The City of Stirling’s decision to proceed based on this flawed process is unacceptable. It prioritizes the economic pleasure and “tourism experience” of transient visitors over the vital mental health, safety, and wellbeing of Western Australian beach and ocean goers.
 
🌊 The Access Chain Principle
Access to the foreshore means access to the beach, and access to the beach means access to the ocean. This chain of access is the defining reality of Western Australian coastal life. Any restriction at the foreshore level cascades directly into restriction of beach and ocean access, undermining the lived experience of those who immerse themselves in the water.
The City’s rationale has been narrowly framed around north–south pedestrian sightseeing traffic along the foreshore corridor between Scarborough and Trigg. This benefits transient walkers, cyclists, and tourists. Yet the true Western Australian ocean users — those who move east–west from land to sand to sea — were not even comprehended in the City’s framing. Their lived experience was excluded.
 
🚗 Parking Obstruction: The First Denial of Access
Even before contemplating foreshore, beach, and ocean access, residents face a preliminary barrier: the regular weekend unavailability of car parking.
•             The South Trigg carpark is filled to capacity by 8:30am in summer.
•             The main Trigg Beach carpark, the northern Trigg Island–Point restaurant carpark, the boat ramp carpark, and adjoining carparks along West Coast Tourist Drive and Karrinyup Road are likewise full.
This creates a four‑point hurdle:
1.           Carpark access denied → no entry to the foreshore.
2.             Foreshore access denied → no passage to the beach.
3.           Beach access denied → no entry to the ocean.
4.           Ocean access denied → loss of immersion, recreation, and restoration.
The proposal provides no additional parking capacity. The fact is there will never be any increase in parking capacity: there is no space available. The only possible expansions would mean either:
•        Encroaching into the Class A Trigg Bushland Reserve, or
•            Bulldozing the foreshore dune system, as was done significantly at Scarborough Beach.
Both options are environmentally destructive and unacceptable.
 
🌍 Pedestrian/Visitor Bias vs. Ocean Users
The proposal is deliberately skewed toward north–south pedestrian and visitor traffic, at the expense of east–west recreational ocean users.
•             Tourism economics: The boardwalk is framed as an “immersive visitor experience” for tourists, not locals.
•          Sightseeing amenity: Infrastructure is designed to facilitate continuous pedestrian flow along the foreshore, not direct beach entry.
•     Infrastructure bias: Resources are diverted to tourism corridors rather than protecting east–west access routes.
•       Consultation framing: Ocean users were not identified as stakeholders; only pedestrian safety and tourism were emphasised.
Consequences:
•             Foreshore congestion crowds out east–west access.
•             Solitude and peace are lost.
•             Mental health benefits of immersion are eroded.
•             Cultural traditions of Western Australians — moving freely from land to sand to sea — are displaced by tourism priorities.
 
📢 Flawed Consultation: Structurally Inadequate and Unrepresentative
The consultation process itself was fatally flawed:
•             The postal mailout was restricted to approximately 6,000 households in Scarborough and Trigg only. This selective and deliberate limitation is utterly unacceptable.
•             All other methods — TV, print media, word of mouth, online portals, and drop‑in sessions — are flawed and cannot be considered proper or adequate means of notification.
•             TV and print media rely on chance consumption.
•             Word of mouth is unreliable and selective.
•             Online portals require prior awareness and digital literacy.
•             Drop‑in sessions were located only in Scarborough and Trigg, inaccessible to the broader WA community.
•             Because these methods are flawed and discredited, it must be assumed that only the 6,000 Scarborough and Trigg households were officially notified and adequately informed.
•             The result is patently not representative of the broader Western Australian beach and ocean community — a community deeply invested, passionate, and worthy of being fully and adequately informed, consulted, and extended the courtesy and respect of time to research and consider the proposal in an un‑rushed fashion.
 
🧠 Duty of Care Obligation
The high impact on mental health, safety, and wellbeing is undeniable. The undeveloped Trigg coastline provides profound restorative benefits — solitude, peace, and the “Blue Mind Effect” of ocean immersion. These benefits are not luxuries; they are essential public assets.
Any government — local, state, or federal — carries an absolute responsibility to ensure, preserve, and make a priority of the physical, mental, and spiritual health, safety, and wellbeing of the public to whom they are accountable. This duty of care is fundamental. It cannot be subordinated to tourism economics or transient visitor experience.
 
🛑 Final Imperative Demand
This is a fundamental, urgent, and critical matter concerning the mental health, well-being, and safety of the beach and ocean-going residents of Western Australia.
The City of Stirling has a duty of care to protect the social and psychological assets of its residents. This duty requires a transparent, unhurried, and comprehensive reassessment of the boardwalk’s true costs and benefits.
You have obligations and responsibilities to meet. Meet them. You have a job to do. Do it.
Foreshore means beach. Beach means ocean. Ocean means life. Life means duty of care.
 
Closing Statement
This correspondence pertains specifically as the justification for the debate, consultation, and information process regarding the proposed boardwalk development to be re-opened and greatly extended.
Please refer to my website at: Triggbeach.au for a more comprehensive and detailed formal Submission of Objection.
I request that you extend me the respect and courtesy to acknowledge receipt of this submission of objection and confirm that it will be recorded and counted as such.
 
Respectfully,
Ross [Surname]
Local regular beach and ocean-going recreator and resident
Trigg, Western Australia
Email: [your email]
Phone: [your phone]
 
✅ This version now includes a formal signature block with name, location, and contact lines, making it suitable as an official submission.
Would you like me to format this into a letterhead style (with date, recipient, subject line) so it looks exactly like a professional submission letter to council?
 

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