Shire chiefs issue rare apology for Augusta’s Turner Street Jetty debacle

Shire of Augusta-Margaret River chief executive Andrea Selvey has apologised to the Augusta community over a bungled public notice which had residents up in arms over their beloved jetty.

Without warning, residents of the seaside town were told the Turner Street Jetty would be shut down for the foreseeable future because it had “reached the end of its useful life”.

Apart from the message on the shire’s social media channels, residents and regular visitors were outraged at a lack of communication from the local government, with no detail about why the call was made or what would be done about it.

Amid the furore that had residents lodging Freedom of Information requests, an online petition, calling crisis meetings with shire staff and planning mass rallies at the picturesque jetty next to the Colourpatch, Ms Selvey told residents she regretted what had occurred.

“My entire career in local government has been about building respectful, transparent relationships with communities that I serve, and I recognise and regret that the way that information on the Turner Street Jetty was delivered did not honour community values nor did it meet the standard you as a community expect,” she said.

“As a newcomer to this beautiful part of the world, I am committed to learning more about the community assets you treasure and to working in partnership with you, our community.”

Ms Selvey, who started with the shire midway through last year, also regretted that for some it was her first encounter with them.

Shire president Julia Meldrum said elected members remained “dedicated” to working with the shire administration “to ensure all decisions and communications consistently reflect and prioritise community interests”.

“Council and the shire acknowledge and sincerely regret that the wording used regarding the closure of Turner Street Jetty did not align with our community’s values and expectations,” she told the Times.

“While we prioritised the safety of our community and visitors to the jetty, we recognise that this may have inadvertently created an impression that council is focused on bureaucratic processes.

“Nurturing and strengthening a trusting partnership with the community is our highest priority. We remain fully committed to genuinely representing and advocating for our community’s needs, concerns and aspirations.”

Although there were no immediate details about what action would be taken, shire staff fast-tracked an urgent report for councillors to consider at Wednesday night’s meeting, which was coincidentally held in Augusta.

The Times understands the shire plans to establish a project webpage for the jetty to provide more details on reports filed and future actions.