Almost $100k raised to stop small town slipping into ocean

Calls to help stop a seaside town from slipping into the ocean are growing more desperate, with its community left to fundraise $150,000 to build a new sea wall.

Lancelin, 125 kilometres north of Perth, has experienced extreme erosion along its northern beach, with one business owner estimating 50 metres of beachfront near his property has been eaten away in 15 months.

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An online fundraiser aims to raise $150,000 to build an emergency seawall in front of a "decimated" sand dune which protects a nearby hotel and pub, and the neighbouring caravan park.

Nearly $90,000 has been raised in the two weeks since the appeal was launched.

Lack of action criticised

Simon Dreyer has kite surfed at Lancelin and performed with his band Coastal Drift for more than 20 years.

He said the owners of the hotel and pub were "hugely responsible" for supporting the five-piece band and other local acts, and it was emotional to see the business at risk.

"To see the whole thing eroding away is terrible," Mr Dreyer said.

"This is a disaster and we're not putting any funding towards this disaster for reasons unknown."

He said it should not have been left to residents to mount a response.

"It should be unnecessary considering, I mean, the state should really be jumping in and doing it," he said.

"Everybody seems to be sort of wringing their hands and saying they'll talk about it and think about it, but nothing's actually being done."

Quick-fix not holding

The Shire of Gingin, Lancelin's local government, has been lobbying the state government for support, receiving $150,000 to stabilise the dune last year.

The shire added another $100,000 worth of self-funded sand at the dune this year.

Both attempts at sand renourishment washed away within six months.

Mr Dreyer said hard infrastructure like a sea wall was needed as a long-term solution.

While there was concern a sea wall would simply push the issue further up the coast, he said they had been successfully used to protect other coastal areas in WA.

"The foreshore of Perth has got a seawall right along for miles and miles," Mr Dreyer said.

"If it was happening in City Beach or anywhere like that … it would never have been allowed to get to this point."

Erosion becomes political

WA Nationals leader Shane Love, who is also Lancelin's local MP, said the Cook government had been "missing in action".

Mr Love said he had raised the issue as a grievance multiple times in parliament with little or no response.

"The community members are desperate now and they're at the point where they need to have resources to combat the situation," he said.

"We could see a large amount of public and private infrastructure being lost if the government doesn't get behind the Lancelin community and take some urgent action."

Last week, WA minister Jessica Stojkovski said the government had been working to protect the area, and warned building a sea wall could damage other parts of the coast.

"I'm not aware of the details of the sea wall and whether that will actually assist," Ms Stojkovsiki said.

"But we do have to keep in mind that anything we do in Lancelin will affect other coastal areas."

A government spokesperson said it supported coastal communities through the CoastWA program, with $24 million committed over the next three years.

They said the state worked closely with local governments to respond to urgent risks on a case-by-case basis, including ongoing work with the Shire of Gingin to support Lancelin.

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