Greens stalwart Bob Brown joins fight against small South West sand mine

Greens stalwart Bob Brown joins fight against small South West sand mine Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 10:33am In short: Founding Greens party leader Bob Brown has joined the fight against a proposed sand mine in Yallingup in WA's South West. The state's peak construction body says the local sand would be vital to the construction of housing in the region. What's next? Public consultation on the proposed mine, facilitated by the City of Busselton, is open until June 12. One of Australia's most prominent conservationists has joined a hyperlocal fight against a small-scale sand mine proposed in Yallingup in Western Australia's South West region. The proposed mine would extract 453,000 cubic metres of sand over five years, which the building industry says is vital for creating local housing. The 9.14-hectare mine is considered small-scale under WA government policy, but it has sparked significant community backlash. Opponents are mainly worried about consequences for road safety and the nearby tourism attraction of Injidup Natural Spa, which is two kilometres west of the proposed mine site on Caves Road. The swimming spot's striking granite boulders and pristine water attract scores of visitors. Conservation heavyweight backs fight The campaign has received the backing of the Greens party's founding leader, Bob Brown. The prominent environmentalist visited the site this month, declaring the project "an industrial nightmare" in a video posted online. "They're robbing the community of the beautiful ambience, the naturalness that it has, the attractiveness that it has for all of us," Dr Brown told the ABC. "You just see a beautiful little place like that, a quiet refuge, a place for the human soul, being turned into another money-making venture for people who don't care about it." The ABC has contacted the proponent, Cape Sand Supplies, for comment. Aside from natural beauty, critics are also concerned about an increase in traffic on the tourist thoroughfare of Caves Road. The mine could add another 200 heavy truck movements to Caves Road each day. Protect Our Pits organiser Matt Mulhall said road safety was a chief concern among many. "Unfortunately, they're quite a dangerous road already, just considering the nature of them winding their way through scenic valleys," he said. Sand for more homes The South West region has a serious housing shortage, with some towns having zero properties available to rent. The extractive industry application noted increasing demand for clean fill sand in the region to support large-scale urban development projects. Master Builders WA's Housing and Construction director Jason Robertson said the resource needed to be carefully managed. "The materials [need to be] easily accessible and certainty that there's enough of the said materials to be able to cater for the forward pipeline of work," he said. "If it's local, then the cost consideration is there; obviously going further out there's a direct impact in terms of their overall costs." Two other extractive industry applications for sand mines in the South West region are also being assessed by the Regional Development Assessment Panel. Dr Brown said preservation of the natural landscape should be prioritised over the housing industry. "Housing is going ahead all over Australia without sand mines in the local area," he said. "The driving force here is money." Public consultation on the proposed mine closes on June 12.