City seeks Yalgorup heritage listing but without intensive engagement campaign

THE City of Mandurah is considering seeking national heritage listing for Yalgorup National Park.

But it will look to forgo an intensive and ongoing community engagement campaign that could affect the length of the nomination assessment period, taking up to five to seven years.

The park is one of the most important environmental assets in Mandurah and the Peel.

Last year, the council decided to undertake a campaign to assess and build community support for heritage listing based on initial results that indicated the success of the nomination rested on strong community support.

But the results also demonstrated a gap in the community’s understanding of the environmental significance of the park.

While 96 per cent of residents surveyed supported the proposal, a lack of understanding was noted with 57 per cent indicating they knew only “a little” about the park.

As an alternative to building community support specifically for the nomination of heritage listing, the council has recommended the support be channelled into raising community awareness of Mandurah’s environmental value more broadly with specific attention on such places as the park.

It would include development of an appropriate tourism identity for Mandurah that should be developed in conjunction with researchers and qualified tourism professionals to ensure all potential impacts of tourism were identified.

According to the council, it would also address community confusion as to why the council chose to drive the campaign when it was not the landowner.

A report to the council said heritage listing would provide an exciting platform from which to build an ecotourism industry.