Hervey Bay celebrates 38 years since Urangan Pier saved

The Urangan Pier is one of Hervey Bay’s most popular attractions, but in the 1980s, authorities wanted it gone and started to knock it down. It sparked a community campaign that changed history. Watch the video:

Today it is among the most recognisable places on the Fraser Coast, but 38 years ago the Urangan Pier would have disappeared if it had not been for the activism of Hervey Bay residents.

In 1985 the pier was viewed as long past its heyday as a deep seaport, where it had served to export sugar, timber and coal around the world.

The pier was digging heavily into the budget of the Department of Harbours and Marine, which was eager to wash its hands of the ownership of it.

Concerns were raised about its condition too.

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The pier was falling apart with reports of people falling into the water when timber supports collapsed beneath their feet.

The decision by Caltex in December 1984 to cease importing petroleum to its Urangan depot via the Pier, signalled a potential death knell for its existence.

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Tankers and trawlers would import and export oil, sugar and timber from the Urangan Pier back in the day. Credit: Hervey Bay Historical Village & Museum.

Reports of the pier’s demise had been circulating since the early 1980s, prompting the formation of the Save the Pier committee led by local tackle shop owner Bob Spring in August 1982.

The group’s proposal to carry out voluntary maintenance on the pier fell upon deaf ears within the department.

Undeterred, the movement continued to grow and in January 1984, a community petition presented to then Qld Premier Joh Bjelke Petersen attracted 8000 signatures in one month.

Despite this, and a last-ditch effort by solicitor Barry Sheldon to have the pier leased to local anglers, demolition was scheduled for July 1985.

Over the next nine months Hervey Bay residents watched the end of the pier become shorter and shorter as 256m was demolished.

Instead of disheartening them, it galvanised them in favour of acting to save what remained.

The Urangan Pier has changed a lot since it was first built in 1917 when it stretched more than a kilometre into the sea. Credit: Hervey Bay Historical Village & Museum.

The reprieve they wanted came later that year when the Hervey Bay City Council was granted two years to carry out essential maintenance works on the remaining parts of the pier.

Time was of the essence with the state government making it clear that unless the council was able to restore the pier to a safe condition it would be demolished.

The agreement was due to expire in May 1987.

Once it was signed, the Hervey Bay community came together to save the icon.

Qld Labor senator Gerry Jones officially reopens the Urangan Pier on October 25, 1986, surrounded by crowds who attended the inaugural Pier Festival. Credit: Hervey Bay Historical Village & Museum.

Sixty volunteers donated their time to work on the pier alongside eight full-time workers employed by the council with the help of a federal government grant.

On October 25, 1986, the pier was reopened by Senator Gerry Jones and the inaugural Pier Festival was held in celebration.

The Urangan Pier is one of the Fraser Coast’s most popular tourist destinations.

The hard work did not end there.

It was not until 1999 the pier’s future was confirmed in another reopening ceremony.

In 2009, the last 220m section was fully restored, with the original timber pylons replaced by steel pylons with a plastic covering.