Koombana marina moves forward

Plans for a marina and floating jetty at Bunbury’s popular Koombana Beach is a step closer after the Bunbury Power Boat Club and Koombana Bay Sailing Club signed a memorandum of understanding.

Picture by David Bailey

The memorandum, which formalises cooperation between the clubs, comes nine months after the State Government announced $240,000 towards the planned facility through the South West Development Commission.

The agreement commits the clubs to build on the results of a three-year study of the area that focused on securing a 235-pen marina and supporting facilities and would enable steps towards eventual amalgamation and co-location to the Koombana Bay Sailing Club site.

Power Boat Club Commodore Kevin Ryan said the memorandum had already resulted in the preparation of a concept plan, preliminary feasibility study and a tourism study.

Mr Ryan said facilities in Bunbury were currently substandard compared with other coastal cities such as Mandurah and Busselton and needed an upgrade in order to attract major sporting events, boost tourism and improve Bunbury’s chances of obtaining the ‘‘second city status’’.

Koombana Bay Sailing Club Commodore David Doherty said cooperation between the clubs would provide a marina that not only encouraged tourism and investment in the region, but also create employment opportunities.

During a visit to Bunbury in October, Regional Development Minister Brendon Grylls said the project would involve assembling 10 pontoons adjacent to the existing groyne.

At the time, Bunbury MLA John Castrilli welcomed the new initiative and said he looked forward to seeing the end product of all the floating facilities when they were completed.