Seabird is a small coastal town north of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia in the

Shire of Gingin The Shire of Gingin is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, just beyond the northern fringe of the Perth metropolitan area. The Shire covers an area of and its seat of government is the town of Gingin. Hist ...

, situated halfway between

Two Rocks Two Rocks is an outer suburb at the northern edge of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia, located northwest of the city's central business district. It is part of the City of Wanneroo local authority and represents the furthest nor ...

and Lancelin overlooking the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. Seabird is a popular holiday and retirement spot, similar to surrounding settlements such as Guilderton and

Ledge Point Ledge or Ledges may refer to: * Ridge, a geological feature * Reef, an underwater feature * Stratum, a layer of rock * A narrow, flat area with cliff faces or steep slopes both below and above, a one sided cut into a cliff or mountain side * Sl ...

, but has also become infamous for its struggles with

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...

History

The area that would become Seabird was first founded on sand dunes as a series of squatter shacks used by rock lobster fisherman during the 1950s. In 1965 the decision was made to gazette the area as a townsite named "Chalon", named after the

hometown Hometown, HomeTown, or Home Town may refer to: *A hometown, the town where someone lives or the town that they come from, typically their place of birth. *In developing nations particularly: native place, village of origin in newly urbanized soci ...

of the botanist

Jean-Baptiste Leschenault de La Tour Jean-Baptiste Louis Claude Théodore Leschenault de La Tour (13 November 1773 – 14 March 1826) was a French botanist and ornithologist. Born at the family seat (since 1718), Le Villard, near Chalon-sur-Saône, Leschenault de la Tour arrived in ...

. The proposed name was unpopular with residents and upon being gazetted in 1968 was renamed "Seabird". Sea Bird (two words) was the name of a schooner which shipwrecked in the area in 1874 and had lent its name to a nearby pastoral lease. Seabird's fragile location on the foredunes overlooking the beach resulted in a 1970s report by the Coastal Townsites Committee of the now-disbanded Town Planning Department recommending no further development of the settlement shortly after its gazettal. This came to fruition after significant erosion of up to 40 metres resulted in Turner Street, a road built to service the town's beachfront properties, collapsing into the ocean. In 2016 lobbying by residents resulted in a $2 million AUD sea wall being constructed to protect the exposed properties for another 10-20 years. This was also complemented by the addition of 2,400 native seedlings to help further stabilise the area behind the sea wall.

References

{{Towns Wheatbelt South WA Coastal towns in Western Australia Shire of Gingin