Fishing platform catches chefs' funding

A project which is set to benefit Bunbury fishers is one of seven organisations and projects that will be helped by the Chefs' Long Table Lunch 2016 event.

The Koombana Bay Recreational Fishing and Crabbing Platform project was selected by the event's committee to share more than $60,000.

The other six organisations to share the money were the Val Lishman Health Research Foundation, Life Without Barriers, Melanoma WA, Riding for the Disabled Association, Community Home Care and Bunbury Meals on Wheels and Senior Citizens Association.

Koombana Bay Recreational Fishing and Crabbing Platform project manager Kerry Trantham said the idea behind the project was to build the platform to give recreational fishers a place to fish and crab.

"I was involved in the deconstruction of Bunbury's old timber jetty and I remember some boys riding up on their push bikes wanting to fish but I had to tell them they couldn't do it," he said.

"That inspired me to be involved in this project but I have to stress that the new jetty is not a replacement for the old one. The new jetty is not a substitute and I don't want to compare it to the previous one because it was extra special because of the way it was built."

Mr Trantham said the final designs of the platform were almost complete and he hoped the project would be complete by the middle of next year.

Chefs' Long Table Lunch chairman Gary Fitzgerald said the committee wanted to give money to organisations and projects that benefited the community in a variety of ways.

"We saw that the Koombana Bay Recreational Fishing and Crabbing Platform project and the other organisations add value to the community," he said.