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THE doors were opened to the Albany Tourism and Information Hub in time for the influx of Easter visitors on Friday, following a last-minute scurry to get it across the line.

With construction of the building taking just over a year to complete under the watchful eye of passers-by in the CBD, locals and tourists alike have been eager to inspect the new facility.

The Weekender was fortunate enough to get a sneak peek before the opening as the finishing touches were being applied to the state-of-the-art building.

Visitors can expect the latest in tourism technology right at their finger tips with touch screen kiosks to book accommodation, tours and to find out what’s happening in the region upon arrival.

One of the most innovative promotional tools, however, is a virtual reality experience that takes visitors to places that they just can’t get to in real life.

City of Albany Visitor Services Project Leader Hamish Fell said the VR experience was a different way of thinking about promoting the region.

“It took about a week to shoot all the footage we needed for the VR video,” he said.

“During the experience you go places where you wouldn’t be able to in real life.

“There’s a part where you go swimming with killer whales at the Bremer Canyon.

“No one has ever done a 360 degree film of killer whales before the technology only just came out and we used that for the film.”

Pedestrians along York Street will also be treated to a display, with the distinct upper-level windows fitted with special glass.

“Our windows are built with the capability to project images on to,” Mr Fell said.

“So we’ll be able to link up with social media and see what people are posting with links like #amazingsouthcoast and share the photos they’re taking.

“People are taking amazing photos and footage of the region and it will be great to share it with everyone.

“There’s nowhere else in Australia with this glass.”

IN THE wake of Albany’s latest rock fishing tragedy, Western Australia’s peak body for recreational fishers has stopped short of supporting a coroner’s recommendation released last week that life jackets be made compulsory.

Yesterday, Great Southern Police Inspector Danny Vincent confirmed Samuel Peter Roth, 30, of Bayonet Head was fishing alone, untethered to the shore and not wearing a life jacket when he fell into the ocean while fishing off rocks near West Cape Howe on Easter Monday.

Rescuers found Mr Roth’s body about 3pm in water near an area called ‘The Deep’.

The tragedy comes just one week after a coroner’s report into the deaths of Perth fishermen Chunjun Li and Jialong Zhang at Albany’s Salmon Holes in Easter 2015 recommended that lifejackets be made compulsory for rock fishers (‘Fishing safety plea’, The Weekender, March 29).

Albany Sea Rescue operations coordinator Chris Johns – whose testimony heavily influenced the recommendations of Deputy State Coroner Evelyn Vicker – said conditions were treacherous as two rescue boats with seven crew, and two surf lifesaving jet skis and four riders were dispatched from Albany on Monday.

“A Denmark surf lifesaving jet ski got there [first] and recovered the body, which was transferred to the Denmark sea rescue boat and then the police asked us to take the man back to Albany,” he said.

Mr Johns repeated calls he has made over many years for life jackets to be made mandatory for rock fishers.

Tim Grose, communications manager for recreational fishing peak group Recfishwest, stopped well short of backing Mr Johns’ calls.

“We’re currently reviewing the coroner’s recommendations and will use the current trial happening in New South Wales to help better guide our position on life jackets for rock fishers,” he told The Weekender.

“At the end of the day, everyone is responsible for their own safety and all the authorities are doing a great job collectively educating and raising the awareness of safe beach fishing, especially on the South Coast.”

Mr Johns said sea rescue and surf lifesaving personnel were all volunteers, and that he had personally put 15 people in body bags.

“One thing I’ve been saying in these current coronial reports is that most people think this is always at Salmon Holes and always tourists,” he said.

“I get really offended by that because at least 40 per cent, probably 50 per cent of our jobs, if you look at our log books, are not at Salmon Holes, a case in point yesterday, and they are local fishers.

He said rock fishing deaths were on the rise around Albany.

“Since 1974, every 2.8 years we lose somebody through rock fishing here,” he said.

“It’s been disproportionally higher in the last few years.

“There have been nine deaths and about eight recoveries from 2015 back to 2011 from rock fishing alone.”

Mr Johns said one similarity among all deaths was that none of the fishers was wearing a life jacket.

“We understand that the family would feel shattered right now,” he said.

“So do the volunteers, and SES and the police who respond at the scene.”

Tributes to Mr Roth have flowed in over social media since news of his death broke on Monday.

AN ALBANY resident has stepped forward and aired her disgust about the current state of a toilet block in Albany’s CBD, which she says has been left unattended for weeks.

Joy Graham told The Weekender she often walks past the toilet block, located behind Wake’s Music on the corner of Lockyer Avenue and Albany Highway, and says the state of the toilets has severely declined.

“There’s crap all over the toilet bowls and over the tops of the bowls, and it’s been like that for weeks,” she said.

“There are leaves and debris inside, so it hasn’t been swept, and there’s broken glass, rubbish, and there’s no soap or toilet paper.

“It’s disgusting.”

Ms Graham said she had spoken with the toilet block landowner, proprietor of Wake’s Music Eric Wake, and had also contacted the City of Albany regarding the state of the toilet block.

“They [City of Albany] said it was private property and they’d handballed it to Mr Wake, and said they’d talk to him about it,” she said.

Mr Wake told The Weekender that he and the City of Albany had an agreement on the toilet block’s maintenance since he purchased the land from the City about 15 years ago.

“We bought the land off the City, and as a public gesture, we allowed the toilet block to stay open, and the City did the cleaning,” he said.

“We paid council rates and overheads for the block, and they provided the toilet paper.

“All of a sudden, out of the blue, the City said they could no longer clean the toilets, as it was costing them $15,000 a year.

“It costs me more than $15,000 a year in overheads for the block.”

Mr Wake said the City ceased maintaining the toilet block about two months ago, right in the middle of the tourist season.

He said he carried out maintenance for a while, but was unable to continue as he did not have all the keys to the block’s amenities.

“We had someone sweep through about once every 10 days and check the toilet paper,” he said.

“But, when they [City] locked it up and put up the private sign, they gave me the keys to the door but didn’t give me the keys to the appliances, so we physically can’t replace things like the toilet paper.”

Mr Wake was not impressed with the City’s efforts to maintain public facilities at the upper end of the CBD.

“I get people and tourists coming in all the time asking to use the toilet,” he said.

“When we get a boatload of 500 to 2000 people coming in, we’ve only got one toilet for them; this is Albany central… I think it’s very poor that a tourism city has one toilet block at this end of the street.”

Mr Wake also raised the issue of providing a 24/7 facility for homeless people to use.

“I see the City wasting money on other projects around town, but not spending it on toilets,” he said.

“If they’re not going to maintain this facility, they need to provide another facility for the top of York Street.”

City of Albany Executive Director for Infrastructure and Environment Matt Thomson confirmed the toilet block was privately owned and the City previously had an understanding with Mr Wake regarding maintenance, but it was no longer responsible for servicing the facility.

“Given the facility is not a public asset, it was determined that the ongoing costs of servicing this facility were excessive and did not provide the community with best value for that spend.

“With shopping centres, fast food outlets and the Town Square facilities in close proximity, the City could not justify continuing to service the privately-owned facility.”

Mr Thomson said the City had not received any complaints from the community regarding the toilet block.