Help us reach new heights

CLIMBING Jungle is appealing to the community to support a development application that will save the much-loved facility at West Ballina.

The property’s owner, Sydney-based stunt coordinator Harry Dakanalis, plans to spend $1 million to upgrade the site after discovering it wasn’t compliant when it was built in 2020.

“I was going to shut it down and then I went up there and had a look at how it was running and saw the families there,” he said.

“It was quite an eye opener for me to be honest.

“It’s quite a unique building and very rare that you find a gym of that calibre — it’s one of the tallest climbing gyms in the world.

“I decided to complete the DA and find somebody to run the gym and keep it in place.

“It would be a crime to knock it down and put a mechanical workshop in the property.”

Dakanalis bought the property, which fronts Emigrant Creek, as an investment in 2019, when he was in the area working on the Nicole Kidman film Nine Perfect Strangers.

When a former tenant wanted to build the gym, he gave him his blessing.

The indoor centre features 650 square metres of climbing walls and a bouldering wall and is popular for kids’ birthday parties and school holiday activities.

When he discovered it wasn’t compliant in 2023, Dakanalis approached Ballina Shire Council to find out what he needed to do.

The DA includes widening the road out the front, creating 15 parking spaces, building a new entry and a staircase.

Council has received more than 50 emails from people who use the facility supporting the plan so far.

“It’s in their hands now,” Dakanalis said.

Dakanalis, who has worked as a stuntman on movies including The Matrix and Mission Impossible, said West Ballina was gentrifying.

“It’s one of those places that will start seeing breweries popping up,” he said.

“It’s a very costly project but it will be worth it in the long run.”