THE popular Tidal River Footbridge, connecting visitors to the iconic Squeaky Beach Walk, is closed.
It was closed sometime prior to the Melbourne Cup Weekend last year, but first highlighted in a post on the not-for-profit Victoria Walks’ Facebook page on November 28 among suggestions about alternate walks.
But outrage about the indefinite nature of the pedestrian bridge closure is building ahead of one of the busiest holiday weekends of the year.
The reason given for the closure is reported on the Parks Victoria website under ‘Change of Conditions – Notices Affecting Multiple Sites” as follows:
“Tidal River Footbridge is closed due to safety concerns following an engineering assessment. Pillar Point and Tidal Overlook Walking Tracks can be accessed from Lilly Pilly Gully Carpark and Squeaky Beach. Apologies for any inconvenience.”
However, no details have been provided about the nature of the “safety concerns” and whether there is some structural issue with the bridge, as suggest by reference to “an engineering assessment”.
Some say there’s no structural problem with the bridge, that it was closed prior to the holidays over heightened concerns about children jumping off the bridge.
They say these concerns have been exacerbated by cuts to the Parks Victoria budget and a failure to employ sufficient parks’ officers to monitor activities at the Prom and other state-owned camping sites.
Nationals Eastern Victoria MP Melina Bath said the community had a right to know, and also to see a prompt response.
“If there is a structural problem with the bridge it needs to be properly assessed by the government and fixed immediately,” said Ms Bath, a passionate Prom supporter and regular visitor.
“Wilsons Promontory is Victoria’s most popular national park and people visit the Prom to go on walks to Squeaky Beach and Pillar Point and if these can’t be accessed because there’s something wrong with the bridge, it needs to be fixed,” she said highlighting the fact that the State Government is undermining Parks Victoria’s operations, having slashed $95 million from its funding.
The closure of the bridge, and a lack of detail about the response, has attracted many negative comments online, some linking it to a general malaise within Parks Victoria, and the debacle over the state’s ‘free camping’ policy.
Regular users, including Running Wild Australia, have posted their concerns: “More bad news from Wilson’s Prom. The footbridge over Tidal River is closed for the foreseeable future. No date as to when it will reopen - it is apparently unsafe for foot traffic?”
They also highlighted the lack of action on reopening the walk to Sealers Cove, despite an announcement on September 7, 2023 of a “$4.8 million investment to rebuild the two-kilometre boardwalk after storms damaged the structure in 2021”.
“No news on when the Sealers Cove access track works will commence, sort of makes you wonder about what is going on!” said Running Wild Australia.
They received some no-nonsense responses, including the following:
- “Make day visitors pay, make campers pay, bring back the ballot and hire more staff. The place is turning into a shithole, dirty toilets, broken toilet seats from people standing on them. Nappies dumped on campsites. People lighting charcoal BBQs on the beach and overcrowding. What idiot made it free. We all have an obligation to maintain it."
- “The Tidal River footbridge in Wilsons Promontory National Park is now closed as it’s deemed unsafe for foot traffic. Will this go the same way as the Poverty Point Bridge over the Thomson River on the Australian Alps Walking Track? It’s been closed for over five years with no end in sight for a re-opening. Our parks infrastructure is sadly in such a poor state of repair after years of neglect, it would appear that the only solution Parks Victoria has is to close things. One by one they fall. It’s an appalling state of affairs that does nothing to support our local tourism industry in the regions.”
- The influential Victorian National Parks Association agrees with negative comments about the ‘free camping’ thought bubble. “This is really killing the goose that laid the golden egg – or at least removing the people who are looking after the goose. Lack of funding and failure to think through policies are frustrating parks users and potentially undermining nature protection.”
The update from Parks Victoria on the Sealers Cove boardwalk project is as follows: “The Sealers Cove boardwalk needs to be rebuilt, following major storm and flood damage. This will be a major and complex project. It will replace two kilometres of boardwalk over sensitive terrain while sensitively managing the surrounding environment. There is currently no public access to the boardwalk, and access to Sealers Cove is only possible via a 25km hike from Telegraph Saddle.”
Also: “Subject to assessments and approvals, we expect works to commence in 2025.” For more information, including expected timeframes for the rebuild, visit HERE.
Other major works
On Thursday, February 9, 2023, the Victorian Government also announced a plan to invest $23 million “to revitalise Wilsons Promontory National Park”, making it Victoria’s largest conservation sanctuary offering improved visitor experiences.
The proposed scope for Wilsons Prom Revitalisation includes:
- An exclusion fence across the Yanakie Isthmus - together with conservation programs, the fence is designed to stop destructive introduced species, helping make the national park a sanctuary where native animals and plants can thrive
- An upgrade of the visitor area at Tidal River with improved toilets, seats, shelter and a renewed visitor centre
- Additional cabin-style accommodation outside the northern park boundary, and at Tidal River
- Upgrades to the Wildlife Walk to make it all-abilities accessible
- A new Telegraph Saddle trail to connect Tidal River and Mt Oberon.
