A small but determined group of south coast locals are fighting to save Victor Harbor’s iconic Granite Island causeway.

The Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) has decided that time is almost up for the heritage-listed structure, which will be demolished after a new bridge is built to the island.

Kerryn Abbott-Bickley and Eli Bickley have formed the Save the Victor Causeway Facebook group to try and persuade the state government and the City of Victor Harbor to refurbish and maintain the existing 155-year old causeway.

The causeway was closed in January after a pylon on the pier broke and fell into the sea. It remained off-limits to all traffic, other than pedestrians, while remediation work was carried out.    

In June DPTI said it was safe for the horse drawn tram to start using the causeway again that the Marshall State Government announced it would allocate $20M towards the planning and installation of a replacement structure. 

Construction is expected to start in June 2020 but may need to be delayed if an environmental impact report confirms concerns that the noise of driving the new pylons could disrupt visiting whales in the area.

Eli and Kerryn were dismayed that the historical structure would be lost and immediately started contacting engineers and other experts to see if it could be preserved, as was the case with the historical Busselton Jetty in Western Australia.

Eli says the current DPTI plans show that a 700m long replacement bridge would, “most likely be a concrete and steel construction, east of the existing causeway.”

“I don’t think anyone wants to see the existing causeway left to rot into the sea. 

“The Busselton Jetty is a wonderful example of how a jetty can be saved and enhanced.”  

The 154-year old Busselton Jetty was saved after the town rallied to stop it being replaced and is now a tourist attraction with an underwater observatory that generates income for maintaining the historic structure. 

Eli is adamant that there are options to save the existing Victor causeway, such as fibreglass wrapping of the pylons and that a completely new structure would be potentially more expensive.

“I don’t understand why the government and the council aren’t interested,” he says.  

“The technology exists. It can be brought here. It could create jobs.  They just don’t want to do it.”

The current DPTI plans for the causeway are available online.