Big community boost for crumbling Tumby Bay jetty
The Tumby Bay Progress Association has contributed $75,000 towards fixing the town’s damaged jetty which has been closed to the public since 2022.
The Eyre Peninsula town’s association donated funds which came from the sale of vacant land.
The Tumby Bay jetty was closed in October 2022 after harsh weather damaged the infrastructure and has remained closed since.
In April this year, the District Council of Tumby Bay announced it would seek an interim solution that could see the jetty temporarily reopened while a permanent fix was found.
The Tumby Bay Progress Association has now contributed $75,000 to the reopening plan, with the association’s president Dion LeBrun saying it was “a chance to have our jetty accessible to our community and visitors”.
Regional jetties around Australia have been struggling to stay standing for years, with the Local Government Authority calling for more taxpayer funding in February to maintain them.
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At that time, infrastructure and transport minister Tom Koutsantonis said it had always been clear councils were expected to “demonstrate a willingness to pay their share”.
“Because of their lack of investment, assets they have been entrusted to maintain have been allowed to deteriorate, and in some cases even close – and these councils now believe it is up to taxpayers to step in,” he said.
LeBrun told InDaily the donation gave the community the chance to “show the state government that we really do care about retaining our jetty”.
“We’re not sitting back saying ‘government do it all, government do it all’, the community has got a serious wish to retain a jetty and this is a good way the community can demonstrate that,” he said.
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“I can’t blame the current state government for the predicament we’re in, this is a legacy issue that’s been going on for 4o, 50 years. But somewhere along the line a government is going to have to come up with a jetty plan for the whole state, all 70-odd jetties in the state.
“We’ve got to decide, do we want to retain these icons of South Australia, or are we just going to let them fall to pieces.”
The LGA wants the State Government to spend more on jetty maintenance. Photo: supplied.Load testing on the jetty was undertaken in April by Maritime Constructions, with the next stage of the proposed work now approved.
About 18 new piles are being installed, with six new crossheads and associated bearer supports expected.
Works are anticipated to finish in May, with the Tumby Bay Council saying they were optimistic the jetty would then reopen to the public.
“We don’t know how long its going to be open for, might only be 12 months, it might be 18 months, might be two years, but it will be usable again for a while, and its going to give more time for communities to start to get some serious negotiations with the state government as to where we’re going to go with all these jetties in the state,” LeBrun said.
Tumby Bay mayor Geoff Churchett said the donation was a “fantastic gesture” that reflected “community spirit”.
“The leadership they [the association] are showing here is testament to the people involved and the importance of our jetty to our residents and visitors,” he said.
LeBrun said a payment platform would be developed where the community could contribute to the interim repair works.
“We know that there are many in the community who actively want to contribute to their beloved jetty.”
