A “RADICAL” plan to save the Catherine Hill Bay jetty and build an underwater dive park has won praise from a town residents’ group, but drawn less enthusiasm from Lake Macquarie’s mayor.
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Lake councillor John Gilbert wants the council to acquire the dilapidated jetty from owner Lake Coal, open a cafe on it, and build a six-hectare dive park for scuba divers and snorkelers.
“This is a radical tourism plan that involves handing over the jetty to the council, constructing a cafe or alfresco restaurant on it, and using the profits to cover its maintenance,” Cr Gilbert said.
The “Wallarah Dive Park” is in its final design and costing stages, Cr Gilbert said, and would be partly funded by the NSW government.
The park would be built on the seabed at the foot of the jetty, with concrete pipes to swim through, statues, sunken train carriages and small boat or even plane wrecks.
Cr Gilbert plans to bring the proposal before the council, and will meet with council staff next week. Town locals will discuss the plan on Saturday at Catherine Hill Bay Bowling Club.
Sue Whyte, president of the town progress association, welcomed discussion of preserving the 240m jetty.
“The jetty is an icon of the whole area. People know Catherine Hill Bay for its jetty,” she said. “We know that it’s a hard ask to get it to the state where it can be saved, but we really see this as a last chance of saving the jetty.”
Lake Coal applied to demolish the jetty in 2012, and fire further damaged it the following year. In 2010 Lake Coal offered to hand the jetty to Lake Macquarie council and bequest a sum equal to its demolition costs, as an alternative to pulling it down.
But an internal review found taking over the jetty wasn’t in the council’s interest, with the costs and legal responsibilities outweighing any benefits. The council declined Lake Coal’s offer.
“I appreciate that the jetty is an iconic structure and the community has a strong attachment to it, but council determined in 2010 not to proceed with a transfer of ownership due to the excessive costs it would incur, which would ultimately be borne by our residents,” Lake Macquarie mayor Kay Fraser said.
A dive park off the Lake Macquarie coast wouldn’t be an Australian first. An underwater “wreck trail” is popular with divers off Rockingham, in southwest Western Australia. Wreck diving is common off Italy and Greece, and an underwater museum off Cancun holds more than 470 statues.
