Condemned Straddie jetty sparks war of words between Redland mayor and Transport Minister
A popular North Stradbroke Island fishing jetty, which was condemned to be ripped down, has sparked a political war of words.
Redlands Coast
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A popular fishing jetty condemned to be ripped down has sparked a war of words between the state transport minister and a local mayor.
The Harold Walker Jetty at Dunwich on North Stradbroke Island was earmarked to be pulled down early this year after the State Government found it to be at the end of its life and unsafe and issued island residents with a demolition notice in November.
Angry residents staged a protest rally on Sunday, two days after Transport Minister Mark Bailey fired off a letter distancing his ministry from the decision to rip down the 34-year-old structure and blaming Redland City Council for not maintaining it.
“I’m disappointed to be advised by my TMR department that Redlands Council has not been maintaining the jetty despite being provided funding by the state government to do so which has resulted in its condition becoming so bad we’ve had to close it based on a safety inspection & report,” Mr Bailey on an island Facebook page.
“They did not draw down any of the funding allocated by the state government and that has directly resulted in the situation we’re in.
“I support fishing for local residents and despite the inaction of the Redlands Council, we’re offering to positively work with the Council to overcome the problem we now have to ensure that happens.
“ … my letter to the Redlands Mayor sent on Friday with an offer of state government funding to partner with the Council to fix the problem so that fishing from a platform there can be done again safely.
“I hope they take a positive approach to it (as I do) & I look forward to working with them and the local community to restore fishing from a safe platform in this area.”
That triggered a fiery response from Redland Mayor Karen Williams, who called for a stop on the demolition until after the community had been consulted and after she had seen proof that it was not viable to repair the structure.
Cr Williams said the state, not her council, had made the decision to pull down the jetty as part of a secretive master plan for a commercial transport hub to help the island transition away from sandmining after it ended in 2019.
She also called for the state to hand over an engineers report which allegedly showed it was not economically feasible to repair the jetty.
“The advice I have received is that the removal of the existing Junner Street jetty is necessary for a proposed future commercial transport hub as part of the Goompi Masterplan,” Cr Williams wrote in a letter to Mr Bailey.
“Council believes the Goompi Masterplan is an important part of the State Government’s plans to transition the island and as such should be accompanied by an implementation plan and associated costings that clearly show the community what will be built and who is responsible for funding it.
“Such an implementation plan should include the commercial transport hub TMR has advised is planned for the site of the Junner Street jetty so the community can see this full detail and provide feedback.
“While I acknowledge the offer of funding to build a fishing pontoon, I believe first the community deserves to be engaged on the broader plans for Goompi.
“As such, I call on the State Government to not remove the jetty until the community has seen the full Goompi Masterplan, including the implementation plan we have been calling on.”
Angry island residents at the Dunwich protest on Sunday said they were fed up with the bickering between state and council and wanted full disclosure of all “deals” with the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation, QYAC.
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