Five jetties under microscope amid fears of big repair bills

Unsafe regional jetties are in need of millions of dollars worth of repairs, frustrated locals say, amid fears for safety and a local economic lifeline.

Harry LeBrun, Maisie Curtis, Sadie Curtis Tom Tierney at the Tumby Bay Jetty, which will be closed over summer due to storm damage. Picture: Robert Lang

Tens of millions of dollars will have to be spent on ageing and unsafe regional jetties, with some in such poor condition they may have to be replaced by new structures.

The state government is conducting a pilot study into five regional jetties, which will conclude by the end of the year, and will look at a “range of options including maintenance and building new infrastructure where necessary’’.

A spokesperson for the Department for Infrastructure and Transport said it was building a “comprehensive business plan’’ for jetties at Tumby Bay, Port Germein, Edithburgh, Kingston SE and Rapid Bay.

The jetty at Tumby Bay, on Eyre Peninsula, was closed last week due to storm damage and it is unknown if it will re-open in time for the summer tourism rush. A departmental engineer is expected to assess damage caused by the storm later this week.

Tumby Bay Council chief executive Rebecca Hayes said she believed the town needed a new jetty.

Harry LeBrun, Maisie Curtis, Sadie Curtis Tom Tierney at the Tumby Bay Jetty, which will be closed over summer due to storm damage. Picture: Robert Lang

“I don’t think our jetty is in a position to be refurbished,’’ she said.

“Replacement to me would be, from a perspective of spending money and long-term value, the more appropriate pragmatic way to go, but we are looking at between $15m and $20m, so this is not a cheap exercise.’’

The council, with help from a federal government grant, had been planning to spend $500,000 on what Ms Hayes called “basic maintenance’’ but that has been put on hold after the most recent damage.

Complicating matters is that Tumby Bay’s lease on its jetty expires in 2024.

There are 76 public jetties and wharves in South Australia, of which 68 are owned by the state.

But in the late 1990s, responsibility for 36 of the jetties was passed to regional councils on leases of between 25 and 99 years.

The Tumby Bay Jetty. Picture: Robert Lang

Tumby Bay has only 2600 ratepayers and income of $4.5m a year and Ms Hayes said any new lease had to be “fairer and more cognisant of the limitations of councils to fund certain maintenance and upkeep’’.

Yorke Peninsula Council acting chief executive Ben Thompson said Edithburgh jetty was temporarily closed during severe weather conditions for safety.

Mr Thompson said there were 12 jetties in the Yorke Peninsula council area and an assessment was also being prepared on the jetty and foreshore at Port Vincent.

“As grand as they are, they are immersed in seawater and as with every old structure they do require a lot of caring and love which comes in the form of financial resources and personnel,’’ he said.

Local Government Association SA chief executive Clinton Jury said the state government needed to invest at least $10m in regional jetties because “of the important economic, social, tourism and heritage contributions jetties make to their local communities’’.

He said the government should release the Jetties Strategic Plan which was commissioned by the previous Marshall Liberal administration but never made public.

Labor Infrastructure Minister Tom Koutsantonis called for the plan to be released in 2019 but said he was unable to do so now as it was legally considered to be a cabinet document.

The Tumby Bay Jetty. Picture: Robert Lang

“These details should be released – and we are working on providing the information that informed this draft plan to stakeholders and the South Australian public,’’ he said.

Local Liberal MP Sam Telfer also called for the report to be released.

At Tumby Bay, Dion Le Bruin, president of the local progress association, said the jetty’s closure hurt the town during the school holidays.

Closure of the jetty added to the town’s problems, with its seawall also damaged and closed during winter.

“These things are critical to the identity and the economy of these regional towns,’’ he said. “Economic bang for buck, these things are more important to the towns than say Glenelg or Grange or Semaphore or any of those metropolitan jetties.

“Most people from the city or tourists, they stroll up the jetties, they go fishing off the jetties they swim off them, it’s the town’s identity.’’

Regional Development Australia Eyre Peninsula chief executive Ryan Viney said the region’s visitor economy contributed $488m to the SA economy last year “with its network of iconic jetties a critical component in the region’s tourist offering, and attracting visitors to the Eyre Peninsula’’.