No joy for Long Jetty

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No joy for Long Jetty

THE WELSHPOOL and District Advisory Group is still campaigning to obtain the necessary funding to complete the restoration of the Long Jetty at Port Welshpool, with no end in sight.

President of the group, Paul Macphail, said there needs to be more funding allocated to the project before the restoration can commence.

‘We already have $6 million secured by the State Government but we need another $4 million to $5 million to start the restoration,” Mr Macphail said.

“The project won’t be able to start until there is enough funding to complete the project.”

The estimated cost of the restoration project is in excess of $10.5 million. Mr Macphail said the main hope for the additional support is from the Federal Government.

At a funding announcement for the project in November 2011, Deputy Premier Peter Ryan acknowledged the importance of the regional landmark.

“The Port Welshpool Long Jetty is a wonderful historical piece of maritime infrastructure that is cherished by the Gippsland community,” Mr Ryan said

“I welcome the commitment from the Federal Coalition and I encourage the Federal Labour Government to also support the restoration of this iconic Victorian attraction.

“The Long Jetty is the longest in Victoria and is an important piece of maritime history that should be preserved for current and future generations to enjoy.”

Mr Macphail is hopeful more funding can be secured in the near future.

“We could use the current funding and just do a patch job, but it would just need doing again in a few years,” he said.

The jetty was initially closed in 2003; however the fire that saw a large section of the jetty destroyed occurred after the initial closure.

There is a meeting scheduled for June with the South Gippsland Shire Council to determine the next step in the process.

“It really is a shame and very frustrating,” Mr Macphail said.

“Tourists come to our area, see that there is not much to do and leave again. There needs to be something here for visitors to do and experience. The Long Jetty is a big drawcard.

“Once the jetty is restored, we can then get started on the underwater observatory.”

 

 

Still waiting: president of the Welshpool and District Advisory Group, Paul Macphail is frustrated that there is still not enough funding available to begin the restoration of the Port Welshpool Long Jetty. The jetty has been closed since 2003.

 

 

 

 

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Posted by on May 24 2012. Filed under Community, Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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