Augusta locals launch campaign to save a beloved timber jetty

The sudden closure of a little jetty has sparked a furore in the South West WA town of Augusta as locals reflect on deep, meaningful memories made on its timber planks.

The Turner Street Jetty, 319km south of Perth, was recently deemed unsafe and closed indefinitely with little notice for locals.

Regional WA has a long history of fervent protection of old timber jetties, reflecting a love affair between locals and their built environment.

Augusta's beloved jetty is on the border of the Blackwood River and Flinders Bay, and for locals like Cindy Watterson it holds deep sentimental value.

"We've grown up eating fish and chips off that jetty and playing and swimming and tying our boats up for a very long time," she said. 

100-strong 'save our jetty' protest 

The Turner Street Jetty was suddenly closed last week by the Shire of Augusta and Margaret River for the "foreseeable future" and deemed "beyond its useful life".

The decision was met with a barrage of local criticism and questions.

"Where is the maintenance?" Ms Watterson asked.

"Why has it deteriorated faster, why hasn't there been pre-maintenance?"

Four days after the announcement, more than 100 locals carrying "save our jetty" placards protested at the site,  

Emma Gillam was among them and helped put together a petition calling to save the jetty.

"It's been in the community for 100 years. We want it to be looked after, not demolished or redeveloped into something," Ms Gillam said.

"We want to know that the jetty is going to remain."

Augusta-Margaret River Shire president Julia Meldrum said the decision was about public safety.

Ms Meldrum rejected local accusations of neglect, pointing to annual maintenance from the shire and an independent engineering report released every two years.

On Thursday night, the shire voted to spend $100,000 to either replace or refurbish the jetty, though Ms Meldrum said the latter would be an expensive proposition.

"I can't say what is going to happen, but we will look at all the options and we will find whatever the most suitable and practical solution is," Ms Meldrum said.

Ms Meldrum sympathised with the public's disappointment.

"I love our jetties," she said. 

"They are a place where we connect, where we connect with nature.

"They're a really important part of the fabric of our communities throughout Western Australia."

WA's love affair with old jetties

Turner Street Jetty echoes similar fights by coastal communities fighting to save jetties.

In south-coast town Esperance, locals waged a passionate and protracted fight to save an 85-year-old heritage-listed timber jetty before it was replaced in 2021.

After a sustained "Save the Jetty" campaign, WA's then-heritage minister David Templeman stepped in, halting the demolition until plans for a replacement were finalised.

In the state's north, community sentiment ran high around the 135-year-old Carnarvon One Mile Jetty.

The heritage-listed jetty was closed in late 2017 due to significant safety issues and was irreparably damaged by Cyclone Seroja in in 2021.

UWA Urban Design Research Centre Director Julian Bolleter likens waterfronts as "masks" worn to communicate a town's identity to the world.

"I think the jetties are particularly significant because they have a historical layering," he said.

"They also speak to a landscape system [and] has ecological significance, but I think too, it is also a place where people congregate and come together, where people meet. 

"So you layer all of those things together and you'll find jetties are very potent and no wonder that communities take them very seriously."