Great Lakes Council is disappointed to find major damage has occurred to the wharf and associated pontoon adjacent to the Tea Gardens boat ramp.

“We recently discovered that one of the pylons has been fractured and this in turn is causing the structure to slump and is no longer safe to use. How the pylon became damaged is not known,” said Council’s Manager of Parks and Recreation, Mr Andrew Staniland.

“Most disappointing is that we will be forced to close the wharf until a contractor is available to undertake repairs, which will not occur until late January.”

“We apologise to the Tea Gardens – Hawks Nest community and we realise the inconvenience this will cause during the busy summer holiday season, but unfortunately we cannot engage a contractor any earlier,” added Mr Staniland.

New materials to repair the wharf were ordered immediately.

As this part of the Myall River is part of the Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Reserve, Council has been in contact with State Government agencies to ensure that the repairs proposed for the wharf won’t impact the surrounding river.

The majority of the preparation works on the new pylons will be done offsite by the contractor, thereby reducing the amount of time needed on site to replace the existing pylons.

The boat ramp itself is still usable, however if there is congestion at the site other nearby boat ramps are located at Ogden Street (Tea Gardens) as well as those at Moira Parade and the Anchorage (Hawks Nest).