Roe 2.0: Battlelines set for major Westport freight link on Anketell Road

The State Government has been urged to rethink the Westport outer harbour project as conservationists warn the impact could be “worse than Roe 8”. The debate comes seven years after controversial plans to extend Roe Highway to Fremantle Port were shredded amid concerns the road would slice through Beeliar Wetland. But now the multibillion-dollar Westport plan — touted to replace Freo Port — is under scrutiny. A previously confidential environmental report has raised concern the port’s key road link could impact endangered and threatened species including the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo and Quenda. That link is Anketell Road, which will be widened for six kilometres from Kwinana Freeway to the new port. Greens Member of the Legislative Council Brad Pettitt said there was a risk the port and road would together deliver a worse environmental outcome than Roe 8 — a project he said had an unacceptable impact. Dr Pettitt said the Anketell proposal would need strong scrutiny, given its impact on the ecosystem. He said the State Government needed to be certain Westport would go ahead before moving forward with the road upgrade. That follows revelations in The West Australian last week that the State may not open the port until 2042. Container growth has also dramatically failed to reach the ambitious projections underpinning the project. “There are big question marks around the future of Westport,” Dr Pettitt said. “The demand and need for Westport … is actually much further away than anybody thought.” But Fremantle should keep functioning as a port, he said. Increased container movements on rail, and using low emissions, low noise trucks outside peak hours would improve capacity. The port was part of the fabric of the Freo community, Dr Pettitt said. Widening Anketell Road will knock over 40 hectares of endangered Banksia Woodlands, according to documents submitted by Main Roads for environmental review. A further 16 hectares of core foraging habitat for the endangered Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo will also get the chop. A survey by consultancy Biota sighted no cockatoos nor breeding evidence but added the bird may nonetheless have a presence in the area A marsupial species — the quenda — was spotted, Biota’s analysis reported. Separate to that report, botanists have recently claimed to have found the rare Queen of Sheba Orchid nearby. “We’ve got to start treating the last of our beautiful green spaces as treasures,” Save the Black Cockatoos spokesman Paddy Cullen said. “People come to Perth . . . to see the beautiful environment.” He said the cockatoo was under enormous pressure from clearing across the South West, despite a listing as one of 22 national priority bird species Mr Cullen — who was active protesting against Roe 8 — said the government was moving ahead with Westport before being clear the project would be viable. The Wildflower Society of Western Australia called for the Federal environmental regulator to review the Anketell widening. In a statement to The West Australian, a spokesman warned clearing three threatened ecological communities on the route was “unnecessary”. “(The) continual incursion on these areas for infrastructure development is not sustainable in the long term,” the society said. A Westport spokeswoman said the proposal was expected to undergo a two year assessment through State and Federal environmental regulators. “Main Roads is leading the planning for upgrading Anketell Road, from Leath Road to the Kwinana Freeway, and will continue to progress development of the road corridor with the aim of minimising potential environmental impacts,” she said. She said the outer harbour was needed regardless of the outcome of the Roe Highway development. The Kwinana Industries Council and RDA Perth have both backed the new port’s development. RDA Perth chair Keith Ellis recently said the outer harbour was the number one “opportunity driving future growth in WA”. KIC argues the new port will unlock growth and boost competitiveness.