The kids will soon be jumping off the Bawley Point gantry again - but don't tell anyone.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The South Coast landmark was washed away in a storm in June.
The gantry was one of the last remnants of the local timber mill which burnt down in 1922.
Canberra businessman Terry Snow is pretty much a Bawley Point local these days, building the magnificent Willinga Park stockhorse stud and equestrian centre there and coming back to the national capital for airport business.
He donated about $70,000 to kickstart the restoration of the gantry, which was used historically to load timber from local sawmills onto ships bound for Sydney.
In more recent times, it's been a good fishing platform and jump-off point for kids into the big blue.
Mr Snow reckons it's even a "rite of passage" to jump off the gantry. And he could be persuaded to do it himself.
The authorities don't encourage that kind of behaviour, of course.
Shoalhaven City Council kept it straight on Thursday when it announced, in addition to Mr Snow's contribution, it had also received $60,000 in funding from the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust towards the restoration.
The restored gantry will be built from ironbark, so that it lasts several more generations.
The council says the community has been right behind the rebuild and plans to "establish it as a safe fishing platform".
The council's director of assets and works Ben Stewart said: "This is a great outcome for residents and visitors to Bawley Point with the replacement of the fishing platform and a fitting way that we can preserve some of the history of the gantry which played such an important economic role to many residents in the late 1800s and early 1900s".
