Residents of the coastal town of Lancelin, 125km north of Perth, are turning to sandbags in a desperate attempt to hold back the sea from swallowing their community. The town has been battling severe coastal erosion for years, with extreme weather eating away at fragile dunes.
A popular lookout, once a sought-after stop for international tourists, was torn down in mid-2025 due to safety concerns. Soon after removal, the site was completely washed away.
Loss of coastline accelerates
Gingin shire president Linda Balcombe told 7NEWS on Tuesday that the town has lost between 35 and 50 metres of coastline in the last 12 months alone. "It's devastating and I personally feel for every community member that lives in that area because they just don't know what's going to happen," she said.
Significant erosion has occurred since May 2025 and June 2026, with the shoreline now within five metres of the Lancelin Sands Hotel.
Emergency sandbagging underway
Urgent sandbagging is now underway at the hotel as a temporary measure. Two hundred tonnes of sand will be placed on the encroaching beach over the coming weeks.
Hotel owner Glen Trebilcock expressed his anxiety: "I'm very, very nervous, very concerned," he told 7NEWS, adding that the "gorgeous little part of paradise" keeps getting left behind.
Community launches fundraising for seawall
A fundraising page has been launched to raise $150,000 for an emergency seawall, with the town facing a race against time. Trebilcock said that if all approvals are obtained, the wall could be completed within two weeks.
Locals fear that without urgent action, the hotel, caravan park, and the old lookout car park could be gone within a year. Fundraiser organisers emphasised that the proposed seawall is "a properly engineered structure, sized to actually hold the line while we keep pushing for the larger, fully-funded coastal defence the town needs long-term — squarely a job for state government."
Political criticism and government response
WA Nationals leader Shane Love accused the state government of abandoning the fishing and tourist town, leaving locals and businesses to fight the crisis on their own. "Coastal erosion has now reached a critical point," he said. "There is now very little remaining between the ocean, the Lancelin Sands Hotel and low-lying parts of the town. If the coastline fails, the hotel, caravan park, homes and public infrastructure could all be inundated. No community should ever be forced to crowdfund to save itself from a disaster."
The WA government stated it is "well aware of the risks" and will "continue to work to find a solution."
