Busselton council to ‘prioritise’ identification of rail history on Wadandi Track despite perception concerns

City of Busselton councillors have voted to “prioritise” the Wadandi Track’s railway heritage in future “identification, celebration and ongoing future promotion” of the trail. The motion was brought by Cr Andrew Macnish and will see the city give a nod to the track’s history as the Rails to Trails corridor spanning from Busselton Jetty to Flinders Bay, east of Augusta. This will be done in “any and all” involvements the city has regarding the land, according to the motion, and will include all signs, as well as vocal and written interpretations at the track. In his reasoning for bringing the motion forward, Cr Macnish said he was concerned about the lack of railway heritage history present in future marketing campaigns. Cr Macnish said it was important to know the site’s rail history. “I was just so concerned after attending that briefing session that there was zero on the Rails to Trails history and the rail history and all the rest of it, and I got quite upset by that,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure that that land is there because of the railway, and there is a tremendous history about that and all the people who worked so hard to put it there, and that story needs to be told.” Several councillors raised concerns over the wording of the motion, including Cr Mikayla Love, who said the motion’s wording could be received poorly. “I do have slight concerns just over the word ‘prioritises’ at the start, but I couldn’t really think of a nice substitute,” she said. “Just because in my opinion, I wouldn’t want the community to think that we’re pledging any of these — the Aboriginal, European and natural heritage — against each other. “I don’t want them to think ‘oh, we’re prioritising European history over Aboriginal history or the natural heritage’. “I’m sure that’s not what Cr Macnish’s intention was with that wording but that’s just the concern that I had when I read that and interpreted that for myself.” Cr Macnish said his motion did not mention Aboriginal history, and he found the way councillors were imputing it “quite disturbing”. Cr Macnish knocked back several proposed amendments to the motion addressing concerns, and the item passed seven votes to two.