IT is the ultimate location for country living by the coast, but WA’s South West is starting to feel the effects of population pressure as a result of its popularity.

Residents in both Dunsborough and Cowaramup are fighting proposals for 24-hour petrol stations, while chefs have questioned the arrival of McDonald’s in Vasse at the gateway to the Margaret River food and wine region.

Margaret River residents are also lamenting a change in the town’s main street as it becomes a more homogeneous mix of brands including Domino’s Pizza, Liquorland, the big banks and ubiquitous real estate agencies.

Now, the Margaret River Organic Garden is also facing bulldozers because of a planned school campus expansion by the Education Department.

Actor, director and writer Myles Pollard, who starred in the hit movie Drift, which was set in the South West, said the region was “the best place on the planet to live” but said communities must act now to preserve it.

Pollard has called Dunsborough home for six years and has joined protests in the town against a planned Puma petrol station and convenience store located in the CBD. The community also fought off a bid for a McDonald’s, although the fast-food chain since opened an outlet in nearby Vasse.

While population growth and development was inevitable, Pollard said it had to be handled correctly, with developers and business denied a “quick buck” at the community’s expense.

“Communities like Dunsborough or Margaret River or Nannup are such assets. People like the space, the small-town feel, how unique it is, all the things they don’t get in the city, which is mass produced, fast, commercial,” he said.

“You’re not going to avoid development or population growth but you can design a town with mid-term and long-term vision and in doing so you actually increase the value for everybody.”

Margaret River celebrity chef Ian Parmenter lamented fast-food chains selling heavily processed food with “no kind of originality” moving into the region, particularly near schools. “Go the farmers’ market — that’s the real deal. Maccas is not,” he said.

Mr Parmenter also said 24-hour service stations “belong on the highway, not in the middle of the community where they totally destroy the vibe”.

Lotti St Clair, 38, owner of popular women’s boutique Marigold Designs, said retailers on Margaret River’s main street had noticed a drop in tourist foot traffic amid concern the “increasing presence of chain stores is affecting the unique atmosphere and soul of Margaret River”.

“Customers comment that what they love about shopping here is the friendly local service and creative individual stores,” she said.

Cullen Wines owner Vanya Cullen said the major upgrade of Busselton airport would bring more visitors but put more pressure on existing resources and infrastructure.

“There will be a lot more people and a lot more pressure but also possibilities,” she said. “It’s important to keep the major development in the established towns and we should question whether it makes the area a better place.

“On the main street it is nice to have those shops which are individual and represent that sense of place. You can put the big chains near to town but perhaps not in the main street.”

Camera Icon The new Macdonalds at the entrance to Vasse that has had locals fuming, WA Credit: PerthNow

Margaret River shire president Ian Earl said the local authority was “striving hard to get that balance” but he readily admitted “growth does bring its share of problems”.

“The region has certainly changed,” he said. “I was born here and now I’m a 63-year-old resident, but I have to say the changes have generally been for the better. Yes, it is busier, but we continue to attract a lot of people and great support from the State and Federal governments.

“Ultimately the only thing that can change the feel of the town is the people themselves.”

Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association chief executive Pip Close agreed government agencies and volunteer groups were working hard to protect the region’s heritage, but were often “under resourced”.

“The region’s natural environment and laid-back atmosphere are the very reasons we all live here and why tourists want to visit, so it’s imperative to invest in limiting the pressures on the region as visitation grows,” she said.

Camera Icon Development of the South West has effected the streetscape of Margaret River Credit: PerthNow

An analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows WA’s South West has experienced some of the fastest population growth in the country, with Rockingham, Busselton, Capel, Waroona, Murray and Augusta-Margaret River among the top 25 fastest growing councils in Australia.

And as more people trade Perth for a life “down south” and with Busselton airport to be upgraded to handle direct flights from Sydney and Melbourne, that growth is only likely to continue. The South West Development Commission estimates the region’s population will rise from 187,500 this year to 208,500 by 2021 and 230,000 by 2026.

But with that comes tension. At Cowaramup, a plan for a 24-hour BP petrol station and cafe has drawn strong criticism from local business owners, with a petition signed by 300 people handed to council.

And in Dunsborough, the community is seething over a plan to build a third service station in the centre of town. The application, for a Puma petrol station and convenience store on Dunn Bay Road, has been unanimously rejected twice by planning authorities but developers are still fighting for a go-ahead.

Proponents say it will benefit visitors and locals, but city planner and urban designer Jeff Speck said: “If you goal is to kill a main street — to drive a stake through the heart of a liveable community like Dunsborough — I would direct you to place a modern petrol station at a key corner.”

Trish Flower, a spokeswoman for the community opposition group Puma2Go, said the petrol station’s planned location would affect the amenity of the town and hamper efforts to create a pedestrian-friendly community.