Tumby Bay Council calls for multimillion dollar jetty upgrade in the wake of returning cruise ships

The return of cruising will become a shipwreck situation if a $3.5m jetty upgrade does not arrive before passengers dock, a port town council warns.

A regional port town’s historic jetty is at risk if a multimillion dollar refurbishment is not completed before hundreds of cruise passengers arrive, a local council has warned.

Tumby Bay Council is seeking a $2.5m state government contribution to fund the $3.5m upgrade saying it is not structurally prepared for ships to dock this summer.

The cry for help comes after the South Australian Tourism Commission announced a new itinerary of APT cruises with at least seven each carrying up to 100 people destined for the Eyre Peninsula town.

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Corey Wingard and Tumby Bay Mayor Sam Telfer at Tumby Bay Jetty. Picture: Supplied

Mayor Sam Telfer said the jetty, built in the 1800s, was not capable of tethering ships of such size and a refurbishment was essential given the growth of tourism in the region and the expected increase in cruise ship arrivals.

“The social and commercial value of the jetty is apparent and must be protected, supported and exploited to the benefit of tourism operators, business and the people of Eyre Peninsula,” Mr Telfer said.

“This is an important opportunity which I believe we can’t afford to miss and hope the state government also recognise this.

Tumby Bay Council has requested $2.5m from the state government to upgrade its jetty as cruise ships return this summer. Picture: Supplied

“It is obviously not just short but also medium term proposal from council.

“It‘s not just looking at the immediate, incoming cruise season but looking at the future of tourism potential.”

The council will put forward $1m to complete the project.

The current state of the Tumby Bay jetty. Picture: Supplied

While the return of cruising highlighted a problem for Tumby Bay Council, tourism operators like Peter Crettenden have said it’s a step in the right direction.

The Swagabout Tours owner told The Port Lincoln News he had felt the brunt since the cruise ban hit in early 2020 with his revenue had plummeting.

“Hopefully things are starting to move now,” Mr Crettenden said.

“There’s certainly been enough publicity around about it, the industry is campaigning and the government is strong enough.”