Around 100 locals gathered at the Cape Jervis jetty yesterday morning, Friday 1 September, to protest its closure by the Department of Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) without consultation.

In mid-July DIT announced release of a tender for upgrades to both Cape Jervis and Penneshaw, on Kangaroo Island, to improve berthing and mooring facilities for the SeaLink ferry service.

While the tender includes refurbishment of the adjacent jetty at Penneshaw, the Cape Jervis jetty was omitted.

In a statement District Council of Yankalilla CEO Nathan Cunningham says he had been told by DIT there were no plans to close the jetty; three weeks later the fence and closed sign appeared.

A Facebook group, Save our Jetties and Boat Ramps, put out the call for yesterday’s protest.

“How incredibly sad for the numerous people who access this jetty for their fishing and have done so for decades or longer.

“It would be totally ignorant to not offer some type of safe fishing alternatives for land based fishing from Cape Jervis.”

After meeting with DIT, Recfish SA reports that the new larger KI ferry means the area to manoeuvre is not large enough, requiring modifications to the port and likely requiring removal of the jetty. 

“This is an incredibly important jetty to local tourism, holiday makers and travellers coming to the area.”

Locals are furious that the DIT plans have disregarded their needs and opinions, saying on Facebook that Cape Jervis was being treated as, “just a hole in the wall to the KI cash machine.”

The port upgrade is not expected to be complete until 2025, with DIT saying it had worked closely with SeaLink on the design.

“Ferry services currently operated by SeaLink will be maintained throughout the construction phase, in order to service access to and from Kangaroos Island for tourists and local residents.”

It says works are expected to start later this year and the project team will meet with the community in the coming months to discuss the project.