Capel council denies Peppermint Grove Beach boat ramp over costs, environmental impacts

A boat ramp is not in the near future for the eastern end of Peppermint Grove Beach after the local council deemed the cost, safety and environmental impacts were too high for the upgrade. Capel Shire Council voted unanimously to not support the development of a ramp for small boats at the eastern end of the beach at Wednesday’s ordinary meeting. Keen boaters can currently travel within 20km of Peppermint Grove Beach, which means a lack of facilities at the proposed location was not considered to be an impediment on local boat usage. The report detailed that a boat ramp would require high maintenance due to the aggressive coastal environment and would be a costly process, as approval from the Environmental Protection Authority would be needed before construction, which would require more than $150,000 in feasibility and environmental studies and run the risk of not being approved after money was spent on the studies. Cr Murray Scott said the boat ramp would bring additional costs and trouble to the coastline. “What would happen is what happened down at Busselton when they built that rock wall at the marina; we’d just get a build-up of seaweed, sand and stink and we don’t need that stuff here,” he said. “I think it’s going to cost us too much for maintenance in the end.” The report said a significant study would need to be undertaken to determine if constructing a boat ramp would not cause similar issues with seagrass wrack to those experienced within the City of Busselton, which struggles with a regular large build-up of seagrass and requires a loader to remove sand or seagrass wrack once a week from boat ramps in Geographe Bay. Other concerns included the possible impact on residents living adjacent to the ramp because of increased traffic, noise and odour.