Bowen Eyes Future Options For Crumbling Jetty

Bowen’s Chamber of Commerce is playing a guiding role in rallying the community for the redevelopment of the town’s beloved but crumbling jetty.

Nearly 100 people gathered at Bowen’s Larrikin Hotel on the evening of March 27 to hear addresses by Bowen Chamber of Commerce Chairman Bruce Hedditch, chamber Deputy Chairman Tony Bale, and Regional Development Australia Greater Whitsundays CEO Robert Cocco.

The chamber special meeting was called to kickstart a community discussion over the future of the jetty, whose future is in doubt with the impending relocation of three North Queensland Bulk Ports trawlers, which are based on one of the two arms of the facility. They are to be based in another location because of the present two-hour each way trip to and from the coal-loading facility at Abbot Point.

Under the terms of the land lease, if there is no further use and revenue-raising capability of the jetty, there was an obligation on Bowen to dismantle it, according to Bruce Hedditch.

“We need to develop a plan for when things change in the current use of the jetty,” he said.

Tony Bale spoke of the historical use of the 750 metre-long jetty, which was built from 1865-1867 and played an important role in the town’s early primary industries, as a coal port (until the 1970s) and as part of a naval base.

At its peak, industry gathered around the jetty employed 600 people.

It featured extensive use of Tasmanian hardwood in major timber work, and new foundation works in the early decades of the 20th century used the new process of steel-reinforced concrete.

Up to four ships at a time could be handled by the facility, which was serviced by a now gone rail link. However, the condition of the jetty is now poor.

“It’s not going to fall down tomorrow; the old girl will still be here for a time yet,” Mr Bale said.

He said some of the major timber work had rotted or been damaged by past cyclonic activity and some of the concrete foundations on the two jetty pads were now suffering from concrete spalling, where the steel in the concrete was now rusting.

There had already been more than 50 ideas generated for the jetty’s future so far, Mr Bale said,  in categories such as tourism; water activities; retail and hospitality; historical exhibits; environment centre; and accommodation in the jetty’s immediate foreground.

Bowen businessman Kevin Murphy is even proposing buying a mothballed ocean liner for its scrap value and floating it to Bowen to be sunk alongside the jetty as a permanent hotel/real estate fixture, which Mr Murphy claimed would more than recoup the $40 million needed to finance the project.

Mr Bale used examples of other jetty projects such as Redcliffe pier, Glenelg jetty, Broome jetty, Busselton jetty, and even Galveston, Texas and Sellin Pier, Germany, as examples where communities had rallied together to save and repurpose these much-valued community assets.

“The optimum idea is to get a blend of private and public investment,” he said, “but not too biased one way or the other.”

Rob Cocco said community backing was crucial to redevelopment hopes for the jetty. “They (the government) are looking for one thing: a community that is interested.”

Remedial works had been undertaken on the jetty, including laying down plywood along the walkway and handrail repairs, and even these works were now starting to deteriorate.

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Presenting options to help the Bowen community find a new life for its historic jetty are (from left) Bowen Chamber of Commerce chairman Bruce Hedditch; chamber Deputy Chairman Tony Bale;  and CEO of Regional Development Australia Greater Whitsundays Robert Cocco. Photo credit: Paul Gellatly

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