Recently the Department of Parks and Wildlife had a structural engineering assessment completed for the remains of the historic Hamelin Bay timber jetty at Hamelin Bay to evaluate the current state of the remnant timber beams and piles.
The report advises that there are a number of inherent structural problems and failures associated with the remaining piles and cross beams and that it is essentially remaining in place only as a result of the stiffness of the piles that are driven into the sand.
As a result of the report the department has installed risk signage around the structure in order to advise the public of the structural integrity and public risk issues that prevail whilst management options are considered. In this regard the options that present include the dismantling of the jetty due to the inherent risk that it poses to the public or alternatively carrying out structural repairs to the jetty which would include the replacement of the cross beams and potentially jacketing the piles. Such intervention would obviously change the historic look and feel of the jetty structure and would remove to a large degree the sense of nostalgia that is associated with its pioneering past.
If the jetty ruins were to be removed there is potential for the timber to be retained and create an interpretative seat and table that could be placed within the Hamelin Bay precinct there by maintaining the continuity, story and ‘life’ of the jetty.
It is recognised that the historic jetty at Hamelin Bay is an iconic remnant structure on the Leeuwin Ridge and in this regard the department is seeking the views of the Augusta Margaret River Tourism Association (AMRTA) and your members with respect to the future management of the jetty remains including the options outlined above.
Want to make comment? If you wish to provide a comment in regards to the jetty’s future the department’s Blackwood District can be emailed at [email protected] with comments to be provided by the week ending 19 October 2014. Once the department has gained the community’s views it will again consider the management options available and keep the community appraised in this regard.