Mandurah’s Western Foreshore
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The Western Foreshore is an iconic Mandurah area with a long history of recreation and leisure and has provided enjoyment for generations of locals and visitors. It has also long been an underutilised and inaccessible area that is brimming with potential.
In recent years, we've made significant strides in revitalising the southern end. This transformation includes the addition of a skatepark, the Koolaanga Waabiny Playground, public art installations, a new toilet block, and an under-bridge performance space.
Now the final phase of the Western Foreshore transformation is underway as we bring it back to life and create a vibrant space where locals and visitors can play, meet, work and enjoy.
Our goal is to make the Western Foreshore a year-round destination, contributing to our vibrant and connected city. A balanced mix of public recreation and commercial offerings will ensure the area's viability as a thriving community space.
We are making the Western Foreshore an accessible, intergenerational leisure space that offers something for everyone. Our revitalisation efforts are focused on improving accessibility and utility for all members of the community. By increasing access to the waterways and foreshore, we are connecting more people with Mandurah’s stunning natural environment.
This project represents the largest private investment in Mandurah’s City Centre in decades. A collaborative effort between the City of Mandurah and $25 million in private investment is bringing this space to life. The final phase of the revitalisation project is set to create hundreds of jobs. Additionally, the vibrant mix of public recreation and commercial tenancies is projected to generate $6.2 million in revenue for the City over the next 25 years. This revenue will be reinvested into the local community, ensuring long-term benefits.
Once complete, the increased number of visitors to the Western Foreshore is expected to generate a further $30million in annual revenue for local Mandurah businesses.
We’re excited to bring the Western Foreshore to life and invite you to enjoy this dynamic and engaging space.
View the Western Foreshore map.
In 2018, as part of one of the largest pieces of public consultation ever, our community told us what they wanted to see on the Western Foreshore and helped inform the vision for the area.
You told us that the area means a lot to people in Mandurah, but that some aspects, like the commercial site, needed upgrading. Parts of the Western Foreshore are underused and have enormous potential to bring greater benefits to Mandurah through more community use, economic development, job creation, and private investment.
The Mandurah Skate Park officially opened December 2020, offering iconic leisure and social spaces to be enjoyed by the community and visitors to Mandurah.
The destination-level skate and activity space takes pride of place on the Western Foreshore, and was the first stage of the $22m Mandurah Waterfront Project.
The Mandurah Skate Park was designed with the help of Mandurah people, including young residents and includes three skate zones for different skill levels, including a competition bowl area, for skaters, BMX, and scooter riders.
The space features social and leisure areas including grassed spaces, elevated spectator seating with shelters, lighting, drinking fountains, a basketball half-court, and pedestrian connections to the wider area. The space is also ideal for events and competitions.
The Western Foreshore’s play space, Koolaanga Waabiny Playground, gives locals and visitors yet another great reason to visit Mandurah’s iconic foreshore areas.
The Koolaanga Waabiny Playground (pronounced kool-lung-ga waa-bin) opened in late 2022 and is prominently placed on the Western Foreshore next to the Mandurah Skate Park.
Many members of the community, including children, helped us to design the playground which boasts a 12-metre high play tower as the centrepiece of the world-class play space. The play tower design is inspired by the local Swamp Sheoak trees (Koolyaanga). The playground features both family favourites and newly-imagined play equipment including swinging and climbing zones, slides, shaded cubby pods, sand and music play zones, balancing logs, a spinning carousel, and a human hamster wheel.
Mandurah’s heritage, character and world-renowned natural environment have been encapsulated in the overall design, including seating made from salvaged timbers from the Old Mandurah Bridge. To celebrate local bird life, a series of replica egg sculptures have been incorporated into the space, and a number of carvings in the seating and logs represent local fauna and part of the Serpentine River.
The Koolaanga Waabiny Playground was named in consultation with Local Elders, Cultural Knowledge holders and community members, with Koolaanga Waabiny translating to ‘children playing’ and also relating to the Sheoak trees (koolyaanga) celebrated in the space.
The Mandurah Skate Park and the Koolaanga Waabiny Playground were delivered as part of the Mandurah Waterfront Project, thanks to funding from the State and Federal Governments, and the City of Mandurah.
Here in Mandurah, we are no stranger to delivering award-winning festivals, events and activities for our community and visitors.
Mandurah’s unique natural environment, accessible location and diverse range of quality infrastructure and amenity combines to provide an attractive and versatile destination for hosting events.
With regular community events, from concerts to car shows, the Western Foreshore event spaces include the large, grassed area of Hall Park which has hosted events such as Mandurah Christmas Carols, Action Sports Games, a pop-up drive-in cinema, regular food truck evenings, an annual cycling event hub, and many more.
The recently enhanced under-bridge space offers endless possibilities for our community and visitors to come together, including concerts from the Perth Symphony Orchestra as part of the Mandurah Arts Festival.
The extensive green space area behind the skate park and adventure playground, currently used by the community for passive recreation and for a range of regular and ad-hoc events, will be maintained and further enhanced as a wide, open, ‘Village Green’.
With regular community events, from concerts to car shows, the Western Foreshore continues to provide a flexible space for community and visitors to come together.
The beautiful Mandurah War Memorial is located on the northern point of the Western Foreshore and officially opened on ANZAC Day in 2005. The prominent waterfront location offers high visibility from both land and water.
The memorial is an iconic symbol honouring the enormous contribution of Australian servicemen and women and others who served, suffered or died in conflicts of war.
It is a place of reflection and rest where people of all nationalities and beliefs can mourn the loss of loved ones during conflict or war.
The striking memorial was designed by award-winning architects Hames Sharley and completed in 2005.
Learn more about the Mandurah War Memorial.
Our city and our stories are celebrated and commemorated through public artworks across Mandurah. Arts provide an important way to build community connections, shape community pride, and celebrate diversity, heritage and opportunity.
The incredible permanent artwork titled Meeting Place, graces Mandurah’s beautiful waterfront on the Western Foreshore, near the Mandurah Skate Park.
Meeting Place is an iconic artwork that connects with Mandurah’s beautiful estuary; bringing the water onto the land.
Meeting Place takes inspiration from a water droplet and includes lighting and audio to combine for an immersive and inclusive experience.
The artwork was inspired by elemental forces of the Peel-Harvey Estuary and acts as an intersection of time and forces. It represents a meeting place of the developed and natural.
Viewers experience unique angles from all perspectives as the artwork constantly changes and moves with the viewer and at night animated lighting dance across the façade continuing the sense of motion.
The artwork was the final component of the $53million Mandurah Bridge project (of which the City contributed $3million) and is being delivered in line with the State Government’s 1percent public art initiative for large infrastructure projects.
Spaces underneath the Mandurah Bridge were transformed by award-winning WA artists during the 2024 Mandurah Arts Festival, with captivating murals highlighting Mandurah’s story, environment and culture.
The bridge's support columns came to life with the large-scale mural that celebrates the rich history, natural beauty and cultural significance of the area. The abutment wall beneath the bridge features artwork depicting the ebb and flow of nature in the setting summer sun, incorporating possums, dolphins, kangaroos, Carnaby's cockatoos and local banksia. The mural has been designed to invoke nostalgia and celebrate native species and connections with the environment. It provides the perfect backdrop for events and activations underneath the Mandurah Bridge.
The Koolaanga Waabiny Playground also incorporates an art path linking the play tower to the cubby pods tells the story of travelling along the waterways, and the ‘fish mungah trap’ fence references the traditional Barragup Fish Mungah Trap on the Serpentine River.
Mandurah is known for its beautiful waterways and coastal lifestyle. With an estuary twice the size of Sydney Harbour, winding rivers, lakes and canals, it’s an ideal destination to enjoy all kinds of activities on or near the water.
The Western Foreshore provides a great spot for swimming, fishing, canoeing and boating plus other aquatic fun. There is opportunity to enhance the facilities to provide greater access for our community and visitors to Mandurah’s aquatic playground.
The addition of an all-abilities paddle launch on the Western Foreshore will help make it easier for everyone to enjoy the beauty of Mandurah’s environment and waterways.
The all-abilities paddle launch facility will offer an accessible option for people with a mobility disability to enjoy our waterways in a canoe or kayak. The facility will provide a large floating platform with contrasting colours, kick plates, grab rails and ramp access. It will also include a specially designed step-seating option for people to transition from a seated position into a watercraft while using the grab handles for support. Custom slipways will ensure a safe entry and exit into the water for all paddlers.
This will be part of the great network of paddling facilities that allow people to enjoy the beauty of Mandurah's environment and waterways.
Mandurah’s first all-abilities paddle launch infrastructure was officially opened in February 2024, making it easier for community members and visitors to enjoy the easy paddle trails of the Peel-Harvey Estuary.
A location for potential on-water commercial opportunities (such as canoe and paddleboat hire) has been identified between the swimming pontoon and Mandurah Bridge.
Boating is part of the Mandurah lifestyle and access the Western Foreshore by boat will be easier thanks to the new proposed public jetties.
A public jetty location has been identified to the north of the swimming pontoon. While detailed design is still required, this location will ensure swimming and recreation in the southern part of the site can continue and is recognition of the existing navigational channel.
In 2018, we started a conversation with the community about the overall vision for our Western and Eastern Foreshores which led to the transformation of our public areas including a competition-level skate park, a world-class adventure playground and the circular pool on the estuary. Through the delivery of these components, we are already seeing positive and impactful benefits for our community and visitors. By refreshing our public spaces, we also aim to encourage private investment, improve economic opportunities and create jobs for our city, ensuring a great future for all.
The Western Foreshore Leisure Precinct Plan, which details the proposed overall plans for the area with future usability front of mind, also includes the commercial space on the Western Foreshore.
Public feedback told us that the Western Foreshore’s commercial areas needed investment, and this led us to an Expression of Interest process to secure the right long-term fit for this iconic waterfront site.
The City received seven proposals, all of which featured a food and beverage offering. In this market, the food and beverage components are an important drawcard in creating the foot traffic for the other commercial elements to work. This is similar to what’s been done at foreshores in Busselton, South Perth and Fremantle, to name a few.
The commercial proposal would see an estimated $25million of private investment in the space with mini golf, a licensed restaurant/microbrewery, café and chocolate factory. This will be the biggest private investment in Mandurah’s City Centre in decades.
During the expression of interest for the commercial space, it was very clear that proposals had to maximise tree retention and increase elements like sight lines down to the water’s edge. The proposed licensed restaurant will be set back from the water so more people can make use of the foreshore all along the water, and the minigolf will be built in, not on, nature, letting people connect with the natural environment while they enjoy themselves.
The private investment, in a space that is already being used for commercial activities, means the creation of hundreds of jobs. It will also generate $6million back to the City to reinvest in our community.
Once complete, additional visitors to the Western foreshore will generate a further $30million each year to the local economy, supporting Mandurah’s businesses and jobs.
After careful consideration of all community feedback gathered during the community engagement process, Council decided at its August 2024 meeting to move ahead with the next steps to transform Mandurah’s Western Foreshore. This includes a detailed planning phase and initiating the process of seeking a land excision from the State Government, to allocate a portion of the existing reserve for commercial use.
If approved by Parliament, the Department of Planning Lands and Heritage will then consider leasing the site to the City of Mandurah. Following these steps, a Development Application from Left Coast Leisure Group, the preferred proponent for the lease, will be reviewed by the WA Planning Commission.
We’re balancing making the space more attractive for people to use, with more attractions and activities, with encouraging private investment to create jobs and economic activity in our city.
Find out more about this component of the Western Foreshore Leisure Precinct.
Mandurah is an award-winning leader in creating an inclusive and accessible community. Together with the community, big improvements and achievements have been made in creating more accessible spaces, places, events and services for everyone. Accessibility is an important focus of the Western Foreshore precinct vision.
We want to create wider, shared access paths all along the water’s edge, giving the community better access to the waterside, however they want to use it.
Improvements to the shared path network include moving the path further back from the water’s edge to align with the reshaping of the commercial leased area and to mitigate existing coastal impacts on the path network.
Proposed increased path widths mean significant events, like running/walking circuits, and marches as part of commemorations at the Mandurah War Memorial, can be held.
As a popular swimming spot and waterside picnic location for many years, improvements are planned to boost shoreline tree protection and coastal infrastructure enhancements.
And the commercial space will be moved back from the water’s edge, creating wider public recreation space all along the water’s edge.
The Western Foreshore precinct will play an important role in providing parking for visitors to the location.
The Western Foreshore Leisure Precinct Plan recognises the existing 179 bays and proposed additional parking bays to be created (136 formal bays and a further 66 informal / on-street verge parking bays).
Improvements are also planned for the intersection of Mary Street and Leighton Place to provide better access to the precinct.
A centralised ‘market square’ event space has been identified on the Western foreshore Leisure Precinct Plan, in part to provide a set down/pick up parking location, but also in key activity times as a hard stand event and market space that compliments the adjoining commercial and recreational activities.
The location has been selected as part of the design response in allocating the commercial site and ensuring accessible vehicle access close to the playground and aid in the whole precincts servicing requirements (such as waste collection and so on).
