Beauty Point’s ‘Divo’ diving structure will be permanently removed to ensure public safety, despite calls for it to stay put, Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service has announced.
Engineers inspected the Divo in February and determined it posed an “unacceptable risk” due to its structural condition and lack of adequate water depth for diving.
Parks and Wildlife said various replacement options were considered but have since decided that it is not safe to replace the Divo with a similar diving structure or swimming pontoon.
A risk assessment found that any replacement swimming pontoon would need to be in water at least 1.5 metres deep at low tide to be safe for diving.
However, due to the shallow sand floor of the bay, the minimum distance required to achieve this depth is 226 metres beyond the existing Divo location, which would make it difficult to access in emergencies and “impractical for swimming”.
“This is not a decision based on cost of replacement but rather practicality and public safety,” a spokesperson said.
“Both PWS and West Tamar Council acknowledge the Divo is of sentimental value and interest to the community, however there is no reasonably safe or acceptable alternative to replace the platform or to provide a practical swimming pontoon at this location.”
Local Labor MP Janie Finlay, who backed the community campaign to have the divo repaired and made safer in time for summer, called the decision “unbelievable” and “sneaky”.
“So sneaky. Not even brave enough to face the community and be upfront. Friday permanently close the Glen Dhu pool. Saturday demolish the Divo. Talk about taking out the trash,” she wrote online.
PWS will demolish the Divo at the “earliest opportunity”.
