Published 10 November 2026
There have been a lot of questions in recent days about how the preferred operator for the Back Beach Hospitality Venue was chosen. We want to share with our community how the process worked.
Why the opportunity was open to everyone
Back Beach is one of Bunbury’s most important community assets. The Registration of Interest was advertised locally and across WA to attract the strongest possible range of operators. We received high-quality proposals, including from well-respected local businesses, and we sincerely thank everyone who put so much care into their submission.
How submissions were assessed
An evaluation panel of two City officers and four Elected Members assessed every proposal against the same published selection criteria.
All evaluation panel members signed confidentiality and conflict of interest declarations. No relevant interests were declared in relation to any respondent.
On 20 October 2026, Council endorsed the Evaluation Panel’s recommendation and nominated a preferred lessee for the Back Beach Hospitality Venue (Council Decision 180/26). Council also authorised the CEO to negotiate the lease terms and approved public advertising of the proposed lease under section 3.58 of the Local Government Act 1995.
We've published the selection criteria and their weightings on our website. Every respondent has been contacted.
What happens next
Because lease negotiations are still under way, we can’t comment on the preferred operator or on individual submissions yet. Once the lease is finalised it will be advertised publicly for 14 days under section 3.58 of the Local Government Act 1995, and any submissions received will be considered.
A correction
We’ve updated the wording on our Back Beach Hospitality Venue webpage, which referred to ‘providing certainty for an established local business’. This wording could be read as suggesting a preference, which wasn’t the intent. The opportunity was open to all operators, and every submission was assessed against the same published criteria. We apologise for any confusion.
We want the Back Beach venue to be one Bunbury is proud of, and a place that supports local jobs, local suppliers and our community. We’ll share more as soon as we can.