Controversial South West MLC Ben Dawkins trades barbs with Shire of Harvey over Binningup golf course

A controversial South West MLC is embroiled in a fight with a South West council over an issue with a closed golf course, despite two planning ministers finding it has no case to answer. The State’s newest parliamentarian Ben Dawkins is at loggerheads with the Shire of Harvey over control of the nine-hole Lakewood Shores Golf Course in Binningup, which closed in 2020, and the associated residential land development around the course. Mr Dawkins owns property in an already subdivided section of the development, but does not currently reside in the community. His issue stems from the Binningup town planning scheme, which is expected to be abolished following a vote on a new local planning scheme later this month. Under the current scheme, community open space created within the Lakewood Shores development should be handed over by the developer to a community association for control and maintenance. However, a previous developer for the project maintained control of the land and offered to gift it to the Shire in 2020 after they stopped managing the course, which was accepted. Mr Dawkins also believes the Binningup scheme requires current developer Fiveight, controlled by billionaire Andrew Forrest, to develop the current nine-hole golf course into an 18-hole course. In a speech to Harvey Shire councillors late last month, he asked them to request Planning Minister John Carey refer the Binningup scheme to the State Administrative Tribunal. “Anyone can be an aggrieved person and it will be much more effective if it wasn’t just me and some other people within the Shire,” Mr Dawkins said. However, Shire of Harvey planning documents state the more recent 1996 district planning scheme overrules the 1987 Binningup town planning scheme where there are inconsistencies. The district planning scheme does not impose any conditions on the developer to hand control of community open space over to a community association or to develop an 18-hole course. Instead, a July 2012 amendment to the district scheme simply requires a golf course management plan be created before the current nine holes are redesigned. As part of his fight against the Shire of Harvey, Mr Dawkins and other landowners last year created the Peppertree Lakes Community Association. However, correspondence seen between Mr Dawkins and the Shire of Harvey shows the association has not formally met, and the Binningup scheme states any association must be formed “satisfactory to council”. In June, Mr Dawkins asked in State Parliament if Planning Minister John Carey would refer the matter to SAT. Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis responded on Mr Carey’s behalf, telling him “no”. “The previous Minister for Planning (Rita Saffioti) determined that the matter does not require referral to the State Administrative Tribunal as conveyed to the member in writing in a letter dated 26 October 2021,” she said. Mr Dawkins has made additional pleas to Mr Carey to refer the matter to SAT since, while it is understood Shire of Harvey representatives have told Mr Dawkins they would not self-refer. Mr Dawkins acted as the counsel for three Binningup residents who took the Shire to SAT last year disputing its decision to impose special rates for the Lakewood Shores development.