CHRIS THOMSON

178 beach shacks from a bygone era have been handed a reprieve by the City of Cockburn planners who had threatened to destroy them.

Residents of the Naval Base shacks that perch above a sandy beach just north of the Kwinana industrial complex had been fighting a bid by the city’s planners to remove their holiday homes.

However, after a deal of political arm-twisting, the planners have had a 180-degree change of heart.

A draft policy they have put out for public comment will effectively enshrine the shacks as monuments to a time when beachside holidays were a low-key affair.

“[The shacks are] significant as a good example of the holiday camps which used to exist along the Western Australian coastline but have disappeared in the face of development,” the new policy states.

“Although the condition of individual shacks varies, as a whole the shacks at Naval Base Holiday Park have a uniformity of scale that creates a unique landscape, and gives the place significant aesthetic appeal, especially when combined with the coastal setting …

“The design and construction of the shacks demonstrates the resourcefulness, versatility and creativity of the shack builders and their occupants.”

The policy is in stark contrast to a paper the planners presented to their political masters in 2010.

Back then, the planners lamented the fact the shacks did not comply with new-fangled requirements of the Building Code of Australia.

A plan to bowl the shacks was unleashed. Owners would have had the opportunity to put caravans in their place, or move on.

The shacks have no internal running water and no mains electricity but oneperth.com.au drive-throughs over the years have confirmed they are very tidy.

One of the shacks has the tongue-in-cheek name of ‘Bonnie Doon’ – after the serene Victorian holiday spot with the power line views that featured in hit Aussie movie The Castle.

Generations of people have holidayed at the site since 1933 – well before the Kwinana smokestacks emerged on the southern horizon.