ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the author's story of leading a community-based campaign in the tradition of community development and progressive community organising. The campaign had a singular aim which is crucial to a campaign’s success. The aim was to protect a high-value ecosystem and the Little Penguins who live at Point Peron. The City of Rockingham was another key stakeholder in the proposed development. The proposal was for a canal estate, even though the developers, Cedar Woods Properties Limited (in partnership with the state government agency LandCorp), were calling it the Mangles Bay Marina Based Tourist Precinct. In fact, when the author first heard about the proposal, he knew the site was unsuitable because it is naturally shallow and would need dredging forever – at great pains to everyone and at ratepayers’ expense.
