City of Bunbury to foot $2000 bill from Marlston Hill Lookout vandalism

Damage done to the Rotary Tower Lookout, which has caused its temporary closure, will cost ratepayers $2000 to repair, according to Bunbury Mayor Jaysen Miguel. The tower has been closed since March 28 with the gate half way up its staircase locked following damage to the safety net. Mr Miguel said orders to have the lookout tower repaired have been put in with work scheduled to start mid-April. “There are several holes in the safety barrier surrounding the lookout tower,” he said. “Some of the sizes of holes were considered to be an unacceptable threat to the safety of people using the structure. “Once work is completed and the area is deemed safe, the tower will be reopened to the public.” The Mayor said the city did not have evidence to suggest how the damage occurred. After the city posted the lookout tower’s closure on its social media, many people commented they had seen an e-scooter tangled in the tower’s meshing. Bunbury city councillor Karen Turner commented in a separate post on a community page, that the city had made the decision. “A group had managed to get through the barrier and were encouraging each other to jump,” she wrote from her personal profile. “The city has made the decision to close the tower to public access until the repairs can be undertaken”.