logo
‘A retreat is not a viable solution': Entire town at risk of coastal collapse after losing 25m of land over a year

‘A retreat is not a viable solution': Entire town at risk of coastal collapse after losing 25m of land over a year

News.com.au4 days ago
An entire Aussie town is at risk of being completely washed away by aggressive coastal erosion, which has stripped more than 25m of land over the past year and put homes and lives at risk.
The scenic coastal town of Lancelin is in crisis, with locals saying more than 10m of land has vanished since May due to the erosion process.
In some of the worst-hit parts of the coastline, more than 25 metres have been lost over the past year.
The once-popular fishing and holiday destination, located 125km north of Perth, is now fighting to hold onto what remains of its beachfront.
Glen Trebilcock, owner of the Lancelin Sands Hotel, has launched a petition calling on the Western Australian Government to provide immediate emergency funding and technical support.
'Without immediate intervention, the safety of the foreshore and the integrity of essential coastal infrastructure remain at serious risk,' he said.
'We strongly believe that a retreat is not a viable solution.'
The petition, signed by more than 900 people, was submitted to the WA Legislative Council.
'The Shire of Gingin, as a small regional local government, has a limited rate base and lacks the technical capacity and financial resources required to effectively manage and mitigate the impacts of this erosion,' the petition said.
'We therefore ask the Legislative Council to urge the State Government to support the Shire of Gingin and community of Lancelin with emergency funding and specialist technical assistance in response to this urgent and unforeseen environmental challenge.'
Shire of Gingin President Linda Balcombe has also appealed directly to WA Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti, though she says the shire has yet to receive a response.
'We're not asking for millions of dollars at the moment, we're just asking for a little bit of financial assistance,' Ms Balcombe told 7News.
'We're a very small shire with only about 6000 ratepayers and we've got a big coastline that we have to protect.'
Tourism, a key part of the local economy, is also suffering.
Mr Trebilcock told 7News six tour groups that once passed through daily have now stopped coming altogether.
A popular seaside lookout near his hotel is also scheduled for demolition next week due to safety concerns.
The WA Government told 7NEWS it is 'aware of the issues and is actively looking at options to assist'.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

England's only tour game ahead of the Ashes will be against England A
England's only tour game ahead of the Ashes will be against England A

News.com.au

time6 hours ago

  • News.com.au

England's only tour game ahead of the Ashes will be against England A

England have opted against a suite of tour games to prepare for the Ashes and will instead play against themselves in Perth to prepare for November's opening Test. The only official practice match for the tourists in their quest to regain the urn will be against an England A side at Lilac Hill in a three-day red-ball match. Touring teams have long abandoned multiple matches against state teams given the packed nature of the cricket schedule. Last summer India played a single intra-squad match, behind closed doors and amid much secrecy, at the WACA. No media or outside viewers were allowed in, although the public parkland at Lilac Hill won't afford England the same privacy. There is potential for the tourists to play a two-day fixture in Canberra against the Prime Minister's XI in between the first Test and the second match at the Gabba, but that will be the extent of games outside the five-match international series. The news cames as Cricket Australia confirmed the Lions would play three fixtures on their tour of Australia will run a the same time as the Ashes, giving England a larger cohort of player in Australia at the same time. England could also choose to play some unused Test squad members if they are not selected in the XIs for the first two Tests. 'The reciprocal A series against the England Lions is important for Australian cricket giving our players the chance to perform against high calibre opposition,' CA head of cricket operations and scheduling Peter Roach said. 'We're confident this series will complement what should be a fiercely contested Ashes series and have strong benefits for both countries. 'It is a big year of Australia A cricket opportunities with the recently completed series against Sri Lanka A and tour of India in September before the Lions series.' Australian selectors will have four full rounds of Sheffield Shield cricket to get players tuned up for the Ashes, offering the chance for batters to seize an opening spot with Sam Konstas no lock to keep his spot after failing in the West Indies.

Private healthcare giant Ramsay shuts psychology clinics
Private healthcare giant Ramsay shuts psychology clinics

News.com.au

time7 hours ago

  • News.com.au

Private healthcare giant Ramsay shuts psychology clinics

The country's biggest private hospital company will shut the majority of its psychology clinics in a matter of months. Ramsay Health Care notified staff of the closure of 17 of its 20 clinics earlier this month. The three remaining clinics are in the Newcastle suburb of Charlestown, in Perth's northern suburbs, and in Cairns. 'We understand this change might be unsettling and we are working closely with our psychologists to ensure every client is supported and has continuity of care, whether through our existing and expanded Telehealth service or with another trusted provider, depending on what is clinically appropriate,' a spokesperson said. 'This change is part of Ramsay's broader strategy to strengthen how we deliver high-quality, accessible and connected care across hospital, home and virtual settings.' Only Ramsay's community-based psychology clinics are closing, not its hospital mental health services or inpatient and day programs. Federal Greens leader Larissa Waters said half of Australians who needed mental health support already could not get it. 'The waiting lists are huge, and so it's devastating to see that a private healthcare operator is going to close down yet more facilities, and where are those people going to go?' she said. 'Health care shouldn't be for profit, and it shouldn't be how much money you've got on your credit card to enable you to get the health care that you need. 'So it's a real shame that profit seems to be driving this outcome that will have a real impact.' Ramsay Health is listed on the Australian sharemarket and valued at $8.9bn. The company's share price is down 16 per cent over the past 12 months. In August, Ramsay Health Care reported a nearly triple full-year profit of $888.7m, up from $298.1m the year before. The large return was mostly due to the sale of Ramsay's stake in Ramsay Sime Darby, which owns hospitals in Malaysia and Indonesia. The financial results gave shareholders an 80 cent dividend per share across the financial year. 'The government should be providing healthcare services as a universal right of all Australians, and it shouldn't be whether or not a private company's profit margin is going to work to determine the outcomes for Australians' access to mental health care,' Ms Waters said. The 17 clinics are being shut progressively until the final one closes the doors permanently by the end of August. Four Melbourne clinics are being shut, three in Sydney will close, two in Perth will shut, and single clinics on the Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, the Gold Coast, NSW's Central Coast and Wollongong will close. 'After careful consideration, we are transitioning Ramsay Psychology to a more flexible and sustainable model, which includes the progressive closure of 17 clinics by the end of August,' the Ramsay spokesperson said. 'Three clinics, in Cairns (QLD), Charlestown (NSW) and Joondalup (WA), will remain open to support local needs, maintain key partnerships and pilot more integrated models of care. 'Ramsay Health Care is reshaping how it delivers community-based mental health support to better meet the evolving needs of clients and clinicians.' The National Mental Health Commission's National Report Card was also released on Thursday, the same day as news of the Ramsay closures broke. Health commission chief executive David McGrath said fewer and fewer people could afford mental health care. 'We have also seen a steady rise in financial stress and in the proportion of people in Australia delaying mental health care due to cost in the last four years,' Mr McGrath said in the report. 'Disappointingly, many social factors impacting mental health are not showing improvement (e.g. loneliness and experiences of discrimination) and positive experiences of mental health care have remained stable.' People were feeling less secluded than in the previous year, the commission found, and more people were getting help now than in 2007. 'However, there is no question there is a long way to go – our younger generations continue to report heightened psychological distress and financial stress and have a much higher prevalence of mental health challenges relative to the rest of the population,' Mr McGrath said.

The next junior to make a move in the hot Murchison gold fields has emerged
The next junior to make a move in the hot Murchison gold fields has emerged

News.com.au

time16 hours ago

  • News.com.au

The next junior to make a move in the hot Murchison gold fields has emerged

Odyssey Gold is emerging as one of the deepest value gold plays in the Murchison goldfield Technical studies kicking off on ODY's 80% owned, 407,000oz Tuckanarra gold project Drilling under way after $4m raise backed by quality institutions With over 30 million ounces of historic production and two competing multi-billion dollar fiefdoms, few gold territories in the world have become as coveted as WA's Murchison. On one end, building its empire around the towns of Meekatharra and Cue, is Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX). To the south at Mt Magnet is Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS). Between them, the mid-tier miners are among the most closely watched in the ASX gold space. But they don't have the ore to support the continued expansion and even filling of their milling capacity, a fertile environment that has enabled small gold miners and explorers in the region to thrive. The latest to really plant its flag is Odyssey Gold (ASX:ODY). Part of the Apollo Group of companies led by former Normandy Mining executive Ian Middlemas, ODY has been a sleeper in the heart of the Murchison for years. It acquired the 80%-owned Tuckanarra gold project for a song in 2020, when gold was floating around A$2500/oz. The boom of the past two years has doubled that price to over A$5000/oz, while Tuckanarra has grown into a 407,000oz open pittable project at 2.5g/t, 311,000oz of those found on existing mining leases. It even has a processing solution set up, with material likely to be trucked and milled through 20% minority JV owner Monument Mining's mothballed 260,000tpa mill at Burnakura, where plans are being drawn up to reopen and expand the plant to 750,000tpa. "At the moment there's about 7.5Mtpa of capacity within 120km of it and there's every chance that will go to 10Mtpa with some of the mill upgrades that are being planned in the area," Odyssey Gold managing director Matthew Syme said. "Most of those are literally on the highway." Where would you rather be? Value gap Or maybe it should be where the bloody hell are ya? Odyssey Gold has a substantial resource in the bank with 5000m of drilling on the way. Its mining plans at the moment are likely to involve cutbacks of oxide-rich pits, material highly desirable to plant operators because of its smooth, free-milling nature. Close to 100,000oz was mined by Metana Minerals in the late 80s and early 1990s, and processed at its nearby Reedy gold mine, now part of the Westgold empire. Technical studies are under way, with work ongoing to extend the share of indicated ounces in the Tuckanarra resource so a JORC-compliant scoping study can eventually be delivered. At a market cap of just $22 million, there's plenty of upside not yet included in the company's valuation, especially with gold sitting at over US$3400/oz (A$5200/oz). While gold juniors have historically been valued in the order of 10% of the in situ value of their resources, today juniors like ODY are trading at closer to 1%. "Normally speaking we're not gold bulls per se because we just take the gold price that's in front of us, but it's been fascinating to watch the increasing levels of excitement in the space," Syme said. "It really hasn't yet flowed right through to the junior explorer end in any meaningful way like it did in the 1980s and other bull runs. "I think there are signs that's just starting to happen. Junior gold mining companies like us have resources in the ground trading at 1-1.5% of the value of the mineral they own. It's easily the best exposure to gold in the world and gold is a pretty important investment category in the current environment. "You can make a compelling case for the gold price and especially the junior gold equities market to keep on going a lot stronger than what it even is so far." Big backers There are certainly institutions though who can see the forest for the trees. One of them, Melbourne's Collins St Asset Management, is heavily invested in WA's junior gold space and recently upped its stake in Odyssey on market from 8.14% to 9.15%. That came despite dilution from a $4m placement which will fund the current RC drill campaign and the technical study, looking at mining high-grade open pit resources at Tuckanarra through Burnakura. "Collins Street are very active in the area and they've expressed a view about the potential in the Murchison area and the potential for consolidation given the alignment of resources and milling capacity," Syme said. "It's interesting that as well as increasing their investment in their current round, we also started to see some other smaller institutional investors come onto the register. "I think we're just at that cusp of being appealing to institutions given the potential for a significant re-rate now that we're fully funded, actively exploring and presenting as a very compelling near-term development." The value proposition can be seen in full view down the road at New Murchison Gold (ASX:NMG). Its shares have lifted 70% to a market cap of $150m after that company began mining at the Crown Prince South gold project, which will be processed via a deal with Westgold. "That's a really interesting comparison. Obviously they've got a cracking deposit up there at Crown Prince, essentially 4g/t open pittable," Syme said. "But there are some good indicators there for what we are looking at with Tuckanarra. "For example, they converted more than 50% of their resources to reserves, that's a pretty good benchmark for us with the 407,000oz resource. "The other compelling thing there is the metrics for the market rating. They're trading north of $500 per resource ounce, we're at a tenth of that." Long-term potential While there is a keen focus is on the known resources at Tuckanarra which will factor into the mining studies, the potential to find additions at targets outside the existing Bollard, Cable, Highway Zone, Kohinoor, Bottle Dump, Lucknow and Maybelle deposits remains significant. "We did an aerial EM survey of the Tuckanarra area back in March and it highlighted a lot of the conductor targets there," Syme said. " The mineralisation at Tuckanarra is generally associated with pyrrhotite – sulphide replacement mineralisation. "Pyrrhotite of course is magnetic and conductive and so we get a pretty good signature from EM surveys. " Southern Geoscience highlighted 32 geophysical anomalies that we're now starting to work our way through and drilling those as we speak. "We've got a pretty high level of confidence about the EM as a targeting mechanism." There could be the potential to find ore sources at depth below the existing open pit resources as well. "Of course you never know, particularly in that Murchison environment, a lot of these deposits go hundreds of metres and even kilometres deep," Syme said. "Westgold and Co. have been mining for years there now. "Generally speaking the deposits we have are just the weathered, surface expression of primary fresh rock ore shoorts coming up from deeper. "Historically, the miners wanted to mine the high-grade quartz veins or the weathered material. "We know on all of those deposits ... there are very strong indications that those high-grade fresh rock leads keep going at depth." Between Tuckanarra and the separate Stakewell project, ODY controls roughly 30km of fertile BIF and greenstone belt between Meekatharra and Cue.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store