Highway plan sparked fierce battle

Roe 8 was a planned extension of Perth's Roe Highway, part of the Liberal government's one point nine billion dollar Perth Freight Link to ease congestion by providing trucks better access to Fremantle's freight port.

Project threatened endangered species

The extension required clearing parts of Beeliar Wetlands, prompting environmentalists to warn it would devastate the area and destroy habitats for endangered animals such as Carnaby's black cockatoos.

Tensions erupted in 2017

Protests reached fever pitch as bulldozers began clearing trees and protesters tore down fences, while court battles over environmental approvals took place in the background.

Labor government halted the project

When Mark McGowan's Labor won the state election in March 2017, it suspended all work on Roe 8 indefinitely. The Cook Labor government officially closed the Perth Freight Link project in January 2025.

Preliminary work caused damage

Preliminary work on the extension began in 2016, causing damage to the bushland. The Liberal government had argued the highway could be built using a method that minimised environmental impacts by bridging over the wetlands.

Rehabilitation project launched

The ten-year project Rehabilitating Roe 8 was funded by Main Roads WA and managed by the City of Cockburn to restore the area that had been cleared.

Results exceed expectations

A recent survey tracking rehabilitation of eighteen hectares across eight habitat zones showed over four thousand three hundred animals detected and ninety-seven different species. Over two hundred thousand plants now grow in the cleared area.

“I'm really impressed with the way the bush has come back in that short period.”

Six species have returned

Results detected the return of about six species to the area, including Carnaby's cockatoos and quendas. The survey credited more than two hundred eighty thousand seedlings planted about eight years ago.

Restoration still has challenges

Some plants are hard to propagate. Scented sun orchids cannot be planted and must return naturally. When an area is cleared, the microclimate becomes very hot, making it hard to establish native plants.

“Some of the plants are quite hard to propagate; for instance, orchids have to come in naturally.”

Mayor wants project extended

Cockburn Mayor Logan Howlett said the area is probably thirty percent back to what it should be.He wants the rehabilitation project extended, saying there is still work to be done after the initial ten years.

“We don't want to stop after 10 years. The initial work's been done, but there's also a lot of work still to be done.”