Published on Monday, 29 January 2024 at 11:02:28 AM
Over the weekend, Saturday 27 January 2024, the Wyndham Boat Ramp Ponton sustained damage and capsized. Consequently, the Wyndham Pontoon is temporarily closed to public access. Shire staff attended the site Sunday 28 January to undertake immediate emergency works, in order to stabilise the structure as best as practicable, for the purpose of reducing (if possible) further damage to the jetty. A detailed inspection will be progressed by Shire Staff against previous maintenance and asset inspections (2023), to determine if repairs are possible and claimable under insurance.
Emphasising public safety as the top priority, the Pontoon Jetty will remain closed until the Shire is confident that all reasonable risks have been addressed.
The Wyndham Boat Ramp Jetty has undergone surveys and designs, including a public consultation in 2020. The resulting design which met the minimum design criteria, included tenders with return prices at approximately $8 million, allocated $5 million for the replacement of the Wyndham Boat Ramp Jetty and $3 million for landside works. Unfortunately, this exceeded available State Government grant funding opportunities at the time. The Shire had applied for funding under the Federal Government’s Building Better Regions Fund but this funding round was cancelled with the change in Federal Government. Officers continue to seek a suitable funding stream to carry out these works.
A reduced scope of the design of the water side infrastructure only is currently underway, and subject to completion of that design at the end of February 2024, at which point the Shire will seek funding for full replacement. The revised design will be based on the existing footprint, to current marine engineering standards.
In a positive development, the Shire has successfully secured funding from the Department of Transport for the replacement of the Northern Boat Ramp Jetty.
Upon assessment of the pontoon structure by a qualified professional, further updates will be communicated to the public in the coming days. We anticipate providing this crucial information shortly, once a comprehensive evaluation has been conducted.
Back to All News