Most of historic jetty’s jarrah goes to tip

Demolishing Bunbury’s Old Timber Jetty has prompted mixed emotions from site workers who remember the historic structure in its heyday and know they are pulling down a big part of the city’s history.

Jetty site supervisor Kerry Trantham said he felt privileged to be involved in pulling the jetty down.

‘‘Back in the late 1960s I would spend most of my school holidays on the jetty,’’ he said.

‘‘There would be people fishing on both sides and kids were riding pushbikes up and down.

‘‘You’d never leave empty handed from fishing there.

‘‘I still have scars from where I fell over on the jetty.’’

Mr Trantham said removing the jetty had presented ongoing challenges and although some parts had fallen down, other areas were still strong.

‘‘On top of the everyday work there have been a lot of collapses that we’ve had to deal with, it’s a case of watching how the jetty is behaving,’’ he said.

‘‘Unfortunately the logistics of salvaging all of the wood for re-use is just too hard,’’ he said.

‘‘We have been pulling up some beautiful pieces but there would be so many man hours needed to get it back to use, most of it will be dumped,’’ he said.

Bunbury Timber Jetty Environment and Conservation Society president Phil Smith believes the jetty is significant to the city and says the port would not be there without it.

Mr Smith is concerned about what will happen to the jarrah which was taken from the Dardanup hills and believes it will be burnt or turned into woodchips.

‘‘Most of the wood is going out to to the tip on Stanley Road,’’ he said.

‘‘The good stuff goes to the council depot, but the rest I suspect will be burnt or used as garden woodchips — some of the piles there are up to 80 years old,’’ he said.

City of Bunbury manager engineering Jason Gick said because the jetty was a heritage site there was a need to preserve as much of the structure’s materials as possible.

‘‘The city will retain over 200 tonnes of timber and other features for future use in the heritage interpretation,’’ he said.

The crane which stands at the start of the jetty, constructed by the company which built the Titanic, will remain and a new structure will be built to resemble the jetty.