Drive through the small WA town of Cowaramup and you'll be greeted with cows.

Dozens of them.

The main street of Cow Town, as it's known locally, is lined with a herd of full-size plastic cows, who stare out at cars passing by on their way to the lush Margaret River wine region.

Sorry, this audio has expired Listen to the full story

The people who live here have a fierce sense of community. So when an application came before the local council for the development of a 24-hour BP service station off the main street, it was big news.

Locals argued that the town of under 2,000 people, with an existing locally owned and run service station, didn't need a major corporation coming into town.

Cowaramup business owner Clare Wall believes the introduction of the BP would threaten business and tourism in the town.

Clare Wall says the new service station will hurt the business community in Cowaramup. ( ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter )

She believes the town's unique character is what drives its tourism.

"The look of our town is so important to get people to stop and get out," she said.

"There's commercial businesses and petrol stations all over the world. People don't stop to look at a petrol station or a township that's not attractive.

"That's the one thing Cowaramup has to get people through our door — it's that character — and the look of it is really vital to that tourism."

The community mobilised against the application. Petitions were handed around, hundreds turned up to town meetings and over 300 submissions were lodged to council — almost all of which were opposed to the BP.

Cowaramup is a small town in the South West of Western Australia. ( ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter )

The developer's application was voted on at a packed council meeting in May.

Two councillors voted to approve it, one councillor was absent, four voted to reject it. The nays had it — but celebrations were short-lived. The developers took the matter to Western Australia's State Administrative Tribunal.

One by one, the community's arguments against the development — based on amenity, environment, character and tourism — were picked apart by BP's lawyers.

The Augusta Margaret River Shire Council spent over $70,000 contesting the appeal at the tribunal, but were told by their lawyers that if they didn't approve the BP, they'd soon be up for a further $100,000 to $250,000 in costs.

The matter was sent back for a vote in September. This time, the service station was unanimously approved by all seven councillors.

Daniel Kozyrski owns a cafe in Cowaramup. ( ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter )

Local café owner Daniel Kozyrski watched on as councillors delivered their votes.

"They made no eye-contact. They hung their heads and said sorry," he said.

He said he doesn't blame the council, and instead points the finger at the planning approval system itself.

"I'm not let down by the council; I'm let down by the process. They stood by us, but it was like they had a reality check from a bunch of lawyers saying we couldn't afford to fight this," he said.

"What concerns me that so many levels of government can be broken. The next level of government can essentially threaten l government and say, 'If you don't change your ways, you're going to get hit with this cost and that cost.'"

Neither the developer nor BP would comment on the specifics of the case.

But Cowaramup residents fear its approval will mean more large corporations will set up shop in the town.

'Weak regionalism' compared to other countries

Michael Buxton is a professor at RMIT with decades of experience in regional planning issues. ( ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter )

Senior planning expert Michael Buxton said the fight in Cowaramup, which echoes a highly-publicised stoush over the development of a new McDonalds in the outer Melbourne suburb of Tacoma, is indicative of what's occurring around regional Australia.

The RMIT professor said small communities are being locked out of having a say in the development of their towns, by a system that is anarchic and favours big corporations with deep pockets.

"It's really a system that's weighted against local communities," Professor Buxton said.

"The more powerful applicants can employ greater legal representation and residents have to find a way into the system. Big money wins out.

"We have the nearest thing to anarchy and chaos you can get in planning."

He said Australia's planning systems compare poorly with relevant international examples, and called for a more coordinated, strategic vision for regional areas.

"It's weak regionalism compared to Germany and the United States, where local government and collections of councils are powerful and they call the shots," he said.

"That just doesn't happen in this country, because the rules are stacked against them.

"The main threats are to the townships themselves, because the heritage of the towns is one of their greatest strengths."

Cowaramup has a reputation as a quaint rural town. ( ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter )

Professor Buxton believes our planning system is eroding the things that make our regional towns special.

"I think we'll lose a lot of the values that attract people to regional communities. Those communities have hugely important assets and they're greatly prized, and we're going to lose them," he said.

In Cowaramup, residents believe their experience should serve as a warning to other regional towns around the country.

"We need to find a way of highlighting that this needs fixing all across Australia," Mr Kozyrski.

"We may have lost the battle, but we can still win the war."