Cabramatta’s Pailau Gateway: Freak weather damages landmark
A freak weather event on New Year’s Eve which saw people holding on to poles for safety has damaged an iconic 30-year-old Cabramatta monument.
Fairfield
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A freak gust of wind knocked down part of the renowned Pailau Gateway, an iconic Cabramatta landmark due to turn 30-years-old next year.
A decorative ornament perched from a height of about one storey fell at midday on December 31.
“We were at the shop when a freak wind gust happened,” Jonathan Nguyen said, a 40-year-old from Lansvale.
“People were hanging onto the poles so they wouldn’t get blown away for about 10 seconds.
“Some of the tin roofs, some were ripped clean off. Just as quickly as it came it stopped.”
The wind knocked the decorative ornament, ceramic in appearance and about the dimensions of an A4 page, from its perch down onto the floor below.
It shattered into pieces, but no one was injured.
The Pailau Gateway, an iconic monument in Cabramatta’s Freedom Plaza, was opened by Prime Minister Bob Hawke in 1991. The decorative ornament is the second of five to fall.
Mr Nguyen collected the shattered pieces and asked on Facebook who could help with the repair.
Within an hour, Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone had responded, promising council staff would pick it up the next day.
Mr Carbone said the gates were safe and that the occurrence was the by-product of uncharacteristically high winds.
“If there’s high winds, assets can get damaged from time to time,” he said. “(But) I have no knowledge of any safety concerns.”
He said repairs will be undertaken and the monument would be examined.
“Staff have picked up (the pieces) and are now assessing if they get repaired or replaced,” he said.
“The Pailau Gates will be checked. We have no knowledge of any other damage.”