IN THE 1980s it was one of the most prominent places in Mandurah, now it’s just remnants of what it once was.
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It’s this memory of yesteryear which has people campaigning for the protection of the abandoned Castle Fun Park.
A proposed modification of the abandoned fun park site, at Lot 90 Leisure Way, (backing onto Old Coast Road and Mandurah Road in Halls Head), is currently advertised for public comment.
With public comment ending on Friday, residents have turned to Facebook to urge others to take a stand.
“Imagine how awesome the castles would have looked in their heyday,” Tracy Ward said on Facebook.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to restore the only remaining Neuschwanstein [style] castle to its former glory in honour and memoriam for local George Kaspar who built it?”
Castle Fun Park was built in 1979 and included the miniature village complete with castle, an Australian-shaped swimming pool, mini golf course and kiosk.
When the Mandurah bypass bridge was built Castle Fun Park lost a large portion of its visitors.
Many of the buildings were razed when the park closed in the early 2000's and a bushfire destroyed more of what was left in 2007.
The castle and parts of the swimming pool is all that is left.
The City of Mandurah’s modification three to the Halls Head Precinct Plan proposes the site have the land appropriately classified for three retirement buildings of at least four storeys; potentially up to eight storeys each in total, a four-storey hospice and associated facilities including a physiotherapist, newsagent/florist, hairdresser and more, a 12,000sqm commercial showroom with parking for 270 vehicles, a new entry and exit point onto Mandurah Road and a 6.5-metre service road for delivery vehicles.
That application was refused last year but due to a successful application to State Administrative Tribunal, a number of mediation sessions have since been held with modifications made to the original plan.
When the plan was passed for public comment, councillor Don Pember said “all [the City] were getting was bulky goods stores” and described it as “ad hoc planning”.
“We’re faced with not what the council wants but what the developer wants,” he said.
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