Despite threats of large fines, six squatters living in beach shacks on the West Australian coast are refusing to bow to government orders to demolish their 70-year-old camps.
Located just north of Perth at Breton Bay, the six shacks were built in the 1950s by farmers as a place for beachside relaxation away from the land.
They have remained in the care of descendant families, such as Mike and Maria Agnew.
The Agnews received a letter in July this year from the WA Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage advising them to demolish their shacks and return the area to its original state.
The letter said the shacks needed to be demolished by October 2022, or fines of $10,000 and $250 per day could be issued.
“The nature in which it was written was to get rid of them almost immediately or we’ll fine you and we’ll begin to bulldoze them,” Mr Agnew said.
“[It’s a] pretty tough thing to hear after 70 years of being here.”
Despite the threats, shack occupiers remained defiant in leaving them where they were.
“There was crayfish and fish, duck shooting, eventually there were four generations of us here in this shack,” another owner, Keith Brice, said.
Mr Brice said he would take his fight to keep his shack to the courts.
“This was a way of life back in those days … this is where crayfishing ports started from, Lancelin was just shacks in those days.”
In a statement, the WA Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage said the removal of the shacks was consistent with the department’s approach to removing unauthorised coastal structures, and in line with the Land Administration Act 1997 (LAA) and the Parliamentary Inquiry into Shack Sites in Western Australia.
It said an investigation into the unauthorised Breton Bay squatter shacks began in 2016.
The Department said there were no plans for the state government to develop the area.
The Agnews conceded without title they were squatting, but they believed the shacks had heritage value.
“We’ve corresponded back to the department and said that we’re in the process of submitting a heritage listing application and we’re not prepared to demolish the shacks,” Ms Agnew said.
“If we were a problem, if these shacks were a problem in any shape or form, we would’ve been pushed out of here a long time ago,” Mr Agnew said.
“We don’t have a title on our hands, we’ve always known we’re squatting, but I think we’ve been here for so long … this is something that Western Australia should retain, it’s part of our culture.”
Source: ABC
