Over the New Year's break the Mandurah Mail will be taking a look back at the year that was 2019.
Our annual Year in Review will recount the biggest story from each of the past 12 months.
The future of the Point Grey Marina development was hanging in the balance in October after a hearing at the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) got underway early in the month.
Developers, Point Grey Development Company Pty Ltd and Tian An Australia Limited, applied to have a Shire of Murray decision reviewed after councillors voted against a stage one application in June, citing environmental concerns.
The appeal was considered in a three-day hearing at the Perth SAT building from October 2-4, which included a visit to the Point Grey site.
The Point Grey marina proposal included construction of a 300-berth marina with tourism and residential properties on the western side of the Point Grey peninsula.
The project also included the dredging of a 2.5 kilometre navigation channel across the Peel-Harvey Estuary.
There was almost unilateral disdain for the contentious development in the Mandurah community.
Local councils, politicians and environmental organisations all spoke up about the risk to the health of the estuary.
Canning MP Andrew Hastie, who had previously stated in federal Parliament that the company should not be able to go ahead with the proposal without the local community's consent, started a petition to encourage residents to take action and oppose the development.
Dawesville MP Zak Kirkup said he wanted further research into the environmental impacts of the development and a possible additional review by Environmental Protection Authority.
Mandurah MP David Templeman, who has a long history of opposing the proposal, said he would do everything he could to halt the development, while Murray-Wellington MP Robyn Clarke described the proposal as "flawed".
Tian An Australia were sent back to the drawing board when the SAT denied their appeal on November 6.
The panel deliberated for about four weeks before upholding the Shire's decision to block permission to start initial works on the project.
Peel-Harvey Catchment Council chairwoman Caroline Knight said the environmental group was "thrilled" with the tribunal's decision.
"Our waterways are our greatest asset and the economic base of our community, we simply must protect it," she said.
However, Tian An Australia chief operating officer Hai-Young Lu said the decision would not change the company's vision of delivering the marina.
"We're far from discouraged by this decision," he said. "Point Grey is a vitally important project for the region's future, and we remain fully committed to delivering it."
