Calls for clarity from Shire over Archibald Park clearing

A Narrogin environmental group has called for the local shire to explain the clearing of land at Archibald Park and the pumping of water from Railway Dam for the WA Jet Sprint Association’s event last month. In a letter to councillors, the Narrogin Environmental Action Team said the modifications to the area for the event seemed to be “very much at odds” with the Shire’s Railway Dam Reserve 20939 Management Plan. The plan, published in 2018, encourages environmental rehabilitation, passive recreation and the protection of flora and fauna. It said Archibald Park was used as a jet boat race course in the early 1990s, but public interest waned and the site was abandoned. “There is opportunity to rehabilitate this park to provide a more diverse wetland type habitat,” the plan said. NEAT said they were concerned about a lack of transparency around the decisions leading to the clearing works, which appeared to be “highly destructive” and in breach of the “spirit” of the plan. The group cited aspects of the plan they felt the Shire had not adhered to, including the retention of existing native vegetation and prevention of 4WD and motorcycle access. They said that was contradicted by the recent bulldozing of scrub and trees at Archibald Park to allow access for 4WDs towing jet boats on trailers. NEAT president Evan Beckwith said he wanted to congratulate the Shire on the successful jet boat event, but he would like to see more accountability about its environmental implications. Shire chief executive Dale Stewart said the Shire would respond to NEAT “in due course”. “(We) are aware of concerns raised by NEAT, a community group, in relation to the WA Jet Sprint Association’s recent successful event at Archibald Park near Railway Dam, a reserve vested in the Shire ... for the purposes of recreation,” he said. “The Shire will be reviewing the various concerns raised by the group.”