They numbered fewer than 100, but with arms linked and bodies waist-deep in mud, they fought a pitched battle with councils and developers in a desperate effort to stop a major road being carved through one of Perth's last remaining wetlands.

The year was 1984. The location was North Lake, where the Cockburn and Melville city councils were using federal funds to extend Farrington Road to ease heavy transport congestion.

Confronting workers on the project was a hastily assembled, loose coalition of residents, Murdoch University students and conservationists, outraged the councils were pushing ahead with a road that WA's Environmental Protection Authority had said should never be built.

"All this land through here, the swamps in particular, are very valuable as wetlands, and wetlands are disappearing in Western Australia at a very, very fast rate," protest spokesman Bob Howard said in an interview at the time.

Though small in number, the protesters were fiercely determined to halt the road construction.

They chained themselves to bulldozers, used themselves as human obstacles, and were flung from trees and arrested by police, in a demonstration of community resolve that had even then-premier Brian Burke concerned.

"The Government simply appeals to everybody involved in the situation to be as calm as possible, and certainly to avoid as far as is possible, a repetition of any of the distressing and dangerous situations that occurred at Farrington Road during the past week or so," Mr Burke told reporters during a media conference.

Fast forward 30 years, and some of the veterans of that campaign see clear parallels between the Farrington Road dispute and the escalating struggle between the State Government and opponents of its $1.6 billion Perth Freight Link Project.

The project aims to create a heavy transport route from Perth's industrial east to Fremantle Port, by extending Roe Highway to Stock Road with the construction of Roe 8, and then somehow creating a connection to the port.

Colin Barnett urged to 'think again'

The protest veterans, now retired university professors, have warned Premier Colin Barnett has seriously miscalculated the political and environmental cost of the planned extension of Roe Highway.

"Having heard Colin Barnett on the television a couple of nights ago, I don't think he can be quite so dismissive of what's around the corner," said Professor John Bailey, a retired Murdoch University academic who was head of the Conservation Council during the Farrington Road dispute.

Professor Phillip Jennings was a key figure in the Farrington Road campaign in 1984. ( ABC News: Andre O'Connor )

"I think there will be very large scale protests. It's an issue that's been threatened for a long time, and I think he really needs to think again. He's going to have a difficult issue on his hands over the next few months."

Fellow Murdoch University Emeritus Professor Phil Jennings was another of the key figures in the Farrington protests.

He, too, sees a very large and politically damaging campaign looming, as the Barnett Government pushes ahead with the highway extension from Kwinana Freeway across the Beeliar Wetlands to Stock Road.

He said those opposing Roe 8 and the Perth Freight Link were organised, experienced and resolute.

"This is a large group of people who are very well trained and prepared. They have been working continuously, meeting weekly and fortnightly for the last few years, planning their tactics," Professor Jennings said.

"A lot of them are trained in non-violent protest methods. I think they'll fight every move to the very last on this issue."

Opposition compared to Franklin River campaign

Professor Bailey was also involved in the landmark campaign to save the Franklin River in Tasmania from being dammed.

Professor John Bailey says the Premier has underestimated the opposition to the Roe 8 extension. ( ABC News: Andrew O'Connor )

He said Mr Barnett should prepare for opposition to the Perth Freight Link on a similar scale.

"I think we will see direction action protests more of the scale of the Tasmanian campaign than Farrington Road," he said.

"Farrington Road, at its peak, was probably less than 100 people. I have no idea how many people were in Tasmania, but it was thousands. So I think he needs to be prepared for thousands of people."

The Farrington Road protesters failed to stop that road extension being built, but did effect a number of significant and lasting changes as a result of their action.

Another council road planned to run through a more sensitive area, Roe Swamp, was subsequently blocked by the then state government.

Meanwhile, the state's environmental protection legislation was amended two years later, strengthening protections and ensuring EPA deliberations were open to the public scrutiny.

It also ensured local government was subject to environmental controls.

"That was one of the drivers for new environmental legislation, which has then had massive ramifications in terms of state government control of environmental decisions," Professor Bailey said.

"A 50 per cent win, 50 per cent loss on Farrington Road, but the huge bonus of this much better environmental legislation."

Social media tipped to play big role

Neither Professor Bailey nor Professor Jennings see Farrington Road as a template for the current Roe 8 campaign.

It was a small, spontaneous protest by a disparate group, caught off guard by two local councils circumventing an EPA recommendation not to build the road.

"In those days, if the EPA said don't do it and the government said we agree, it wouldn't happen. So we were a bit naive, I guess," Professor Jennings said.

But in its wake, groups like the Wetlands Conservation Society were created, and have preparing ever since to block Roe 8.

With the advent of social media, the alliance of opposition groups now has new tools to marshal people to maximum effect.

"It will make a huge difference. People will be able to move and appear very quickly. It's a completely different ballpark now," Professor Bailey said.

"The principal people on the Roe 8 campaign, they've been dealing with this for a long time. There will be vast numbers of people in their networks.

"And over the next few weeks, even more and more will be lining up."