Yet another stuff-up at Hanging Rock Boatramp

This Eurobodalla Council bureaucrats seem to lurch from one error to the next with no recourse and no responsibility.  OK, what have they done now you may well ask?

Some background to this disaster.  Remember in July 2020 the local Member Andrew Constance announced a $300,000 upgrade to this location including: Building a 30-metre long boat rigging bay, upgrading the boat wash-down area with improvements to the pavement and an additional tap, extending the southern pontoon and upgrading signage and lighting.

Now we all know that Council without consultation took it upon themselves to change the grant funding parameters and extended the northern pontoon leaving the southern pontoon unchanged.  After a delegation of Boaters and Fishers confronted the Council sub-sub-engineer he committed to make some small changes like removing a high concrete lip at the boat wash down area and adding a low boarding platform for the less able and add lights at the end of the northern pontoon.  We welcome some of these.  Many other suggestions are outstanding.

The Association is still waiting for the boat preparation area, real road line markings, a tie down area and an upgrade to the boat parking to be delivered.

But wait, here is the disaster.  Council took it upon themselves to add SIX sets of street lights to the car park to light up the deserted area during the hours of darkness.  Now that cant be bad in anyone's books. Will they be self powered LED lights with solar panels? No, they are lights powered by Essential Energy.

Where will these six power poles be located? Three in a line to the west and three in a line to the East.  Right in the middle of where trailers park and without guard rails.  Where did the most northerly power pole and two lights land up?

Right in front of the leads red and white square and the blue light switched on a night.  So the power pole and light will obstruct the visibility of the leads for boaters crossing the dangerous bar during the day and more particularly at night.  Vessels are guided across the bar in the deepest channel using these leads.  Thus the captain of the vessel will not be able to distinguish the leads from the street lights.

What is the outcome?  Well the engineer in charge sitting in his cubical in the Council offices has instructed the sub-contractor to not install the sixth light.

What lessons do we again highlight.  Council must step out of your offices, talk to the fishers and boaters who can give them real local knowledge and practical on the ground information about the boat ramps and facilities and stop wasting boaters and ratepayers money.