Punt Road Boat Ramp progressing

Again this is not fake news neither is it some political spin but just progress by John Holland to finish the new bridge contract.

The questions to be asked is will the new boating environment along the northern shore of the Clyde River be better than we had before this concrete four pile in the river monstrosity was built?  Short answer no but why?

In the old days we had a boat ramp paid for by Boating Now funds taken from the boat licences for NSW boaters and fishers.  It was “upgraded” a few years before the bridge construction was started by the local Eurobodalla Council and the car park was resurfaced, a BBQ shelter and seating was installed and new shiny stainless steel steps were added so the infermed could access the beach.  The fish cleaning table stayed the same as did the boatramp itself.

The boatramp had one major advantage in that is was adjacent to a beach so people could launch their vessels and secure it to the beach when they parked their trainers.  It had one major disadvantage in that due to its location the sand from the river built up on the surface and surrounds so it was not safe for non-four-wheel drive vehicles to launch at low tide.  But in general it was an easy facility to use when smaller vessel from north of the bridge wanted to traverse the upper reaches of the Clyde.

That all changed during the construction of the bridge.  Firstly Transport for NSW intermittently closed the boat ramp to all vessels during the construction phase – still closed today.  Secondly they put forward a civil roads design which must have come from someone who has never towed a boat trailer or even observed how a boatramp works.  It is a complete mess with two sets of round-abouts and a boat parking area unusable by anyone but a competent reversing experience.

Did they consult with the community?  - No. Did they receive well thought out submissions? - Yes a number,  even one on the back of cardboard container from a slab of beer.  One came from an urban designer in close consultation with the boating community – see photo.

BUT did they listen and take note – well, we will have to see but the current indications are they bulldozed ahead with their original design put forward in the Batemans Bay project Urban Design and Landscape Plan 12 August 2019.  The Foreshore Advisory Committee was led up the garden path and told this whole area would be upgraded and we would get improved facilities.  We received a visit from the State Labour Minister who came to see the proposals and to talk about what they could do behind the scenes to rectify the situation…

What did the boating and fishing community propose as a solution to this urban design.  The north flowing off-ramp come down from the highway parallel to the new bridge and meet the Punt Road at a T-intersection so that the vehicles and trailers could cross this and enter the preparation area.  Here the boats could remove the tie-down and fit their rods and oars ready to launch.  Then move forward to a special area and reverse down the upgraded wider boat ramp right into the water.  Adjacent to the ramp would be a walk-on and a floating pontoon to secure the vessel and permit less able crew to get on board while the driver parked the trailer in the designated spots.  

On returning to the boatramp the master would secure the vessel to the boatramp and then retrieve the trailer to pull the vessel out of the water.  They would then stop at the wash-down area to rinse out the engines and wash off any harmful weeds picked up while on the water so as not to transferred disease and contaminants to another waterway which may even ruin the local oyster industry.

SO what does it appear will be delivered?  Well for a start there will be no change to the actual boat ramp.  It is still narrow and will sand up.  There will be no addition of a floating pontoon for the safety of boaters.  There will be no wash-down area with available water because in Eurobodalla we still have water restrictions that forbids us washing our vessels in situ.  

There will be a torturous route to get to the boatramp with the likelihood vessel trailers will be damaged by curbs and finally there will be less parking spots than we originally had and we will now have to put on our hiking boots just to reach the new “improved” toilet block sited even further away than the original.

You may ask have the boating and fishing community benefited by the new bridge and the Foreshore upgrade plan?  In a word NO.

Have a look at the Associations web site for further lost opportunities at https://boatersassociation.blogspot.com/.../lost...