Shire of Dardanup to enter negotiations with neighbouring councils over neglected Collie River fishing jetty

A South West council is looking to work with its neighbours to develop a plan to restore a derelict fishing jetty to its former glory. Dardanup Shire councillors on Wednesday voted to enter negotiations with the City of Bunbury, the Shire of Harvey and Main Roads WA to establish a four-party agreement to conduct repair works on the Collie River Southern Fishing Jetty and develop a ongoing management plan for the facility. It comes as the jetty was closed to the public in May last year after the facility fell outside the care and control of any local authority and subsequently deteriorated to an unsafe condition. Despite its closure and a barrier being put in place to prevent people using the jetty, some continue to use the facility for fishing, crabbing and recreational swimming. Dardanup Shire president Mick Bennett said while the facility was not physically inside the Shire’s boundary, councillors wanted to figure out who should take responsibility of the jetty. “We need to ask that question of our neighbours and see what feedback we get and make a decision,” he said. “The removal cost is similar to the cost of repair, so either way we’ve got to spend the money so we need to look at how that works at the end of the day.” Mr Bennett said it was likely the timber and pylons would need replacing as part of the repair works required to get the jetty back up to scratch. He said he was also hopeful a decision would be made by June so Dardanup Shire council could allocate money in its budget towards the jetty’s potential repair for the next financial year. “We might be aiming a bit high to get replies in that time but it will have to happen in the next year because we don’t have anything in this budget to take care of it,” he said. “If we get some help that would be great but if we don’t then Council will need to go to the people or bite the bullet themselves.” The fishing platform in question was attached to the Old Collie River Bridge which was built in 1962 and managed by the Shire of Harvey in cooperation with Main Roads WA. A new concrete and steel bridge was constructed in the 2009/10 financial year and opened in April 2010, followed by construction of a new pedestrian boardwalk in 2011 linking the original jetty and fishing platform to the river bank. The eastern end of the boardwalk connected the facility to the Shire of Dardanup, while the western end connected the facility to the City of Bunbury. While the physical location of the fishing platform and the original section of the jetty remained within the Shire of Harvey, the assets were not directly accessible by land within that Shire. A report presented to the Dardanup Shire council stated “the lack of a clear and obvious ‘owner’ of the structure following construction is the source of the present uncertainty”. Depending on the result of negotiations with the City of Bunbury, Shire of Harvey and Main Roads WA, the matter will be brought back before the Dardanup Shire Council at a later stage for ratification.