City of Busselton buys mineral sands mining land for future sport and recreation use

The City of Busselton has bought 465ha of mineral sands mining land five minutes east of the city centre with the intention of using it for future recreational sport use. Sports such as pistol and clay target shooting, motorcross and go-karts, cycling, archery and bow sports are all being considered for the site after they proved difficult to accommodate in the past. The block of land is on the corner of Sues Road and Bussell Highway and is used by Tronox for mineral sand mines. It will handed to the city in a leaseback arrangement to allow Tronox to wrap up its operations while the city holds site analysis and planning. The arrangement will enable the city to begin works on rehabilitated mining areas while other areas of the land are still being vacated by the miner. According to the City of Busselton $5 million was spent on the land acquisition. To support the purchase, the city sold a 136ha plot of Ambergate land in 2021. Mayor Phill Cronin said the land would help improve sport and recreation usage for future generations. “The city is delighted to have been able to secure this large parcel of land to enable growth of these sports in our community,” he said. “The next steps for us will be to discuss the strategic opportunities and uses with the State Government, undertake conceptual site planning to analyse opportunities and constraints, engage with prospective tenant clubs and form a working group to guide future planning and development activities.”