By Briar Sinclair
HOBSONS Bay City Council has called on the State Government to provide funding to dredge the safe harbour at the Altona boat ramp.
The council planned this month to dredge the harbour but is waiting for a catchment management act permit to carry out the works.
The permit, coupled with the sole tender offer well above the budgeted $150,000 to carry out the works, means the council will probably dredge the harbour in October or November.
At a meeting last Tuesday, councillors resolved to request a meeting with Environment Minister John Thwaites to discuss the funding required to dredge the harbour and access channel.
They also resolved to host a forum of peak bodies, clubs and individuals interested in the operation and use of boat ramps in Hobsons Bay.
Altona Ward councillor Leigh Hardinge led the call for the State Government to help fund the dredge.
Cr Hardinge said it was important to have some from of support from the Government.
“Ratepayers have been subsidising the cost for some time,” he said.
Cr Hardinge said he received a lot of complaints from boat users following the February storms, which dumped “heaps” of sand into the harbour.
“Being such a shallow part of the bay it’s an ongoing problem,” he said.
The boat ramp at the safe harbour is one of three ramps between Melbourne and Geelong.
Other ramps stand at the Warmies in Newport and Werribee South.
The $1.2 million harbour was built in 2000 with funding from the council, the Sate Boating Council and the Central Coastal Board.
The area had been dredged once, and the sole tender for the upcoming dredge has quoted $467,500.
Officers were now investigating a less expensive method of dredging the harbour.
A report to the council stated that in the past two years the demand for this facility has grown rapidly, and beyond the designed capacity for safe use.
The report stated that shallow water had caused damage to at least one boat, and there was also anecdotal evidence of traffic congestion in Altona Rd.
Meanwhile, police and ramp users had reported incidents of ‘ramp rage’.
Paul Sagona, vicepresident of the Hobsons Bay Sport and Game Fishing Club, said he was aware of the damage to boats.
“I think the clearance is just about 18 inches (45cms) in the low tide on the motors,” he said.
“People have complained it is touching the bottom of the motor.”
However, Mr Sagona said his club was not largely concerned because it would soon be dredged and it was better than “the old days”.
“There used to be a big rock that would damage boats but that has been blown away when they made the harbour,” he said.
Mr Sagona said the dredging should have been completed in July and August, but understood permits had to be obtained.
“By the time they get going the season is going to start,” he said.
“It is going to cause a lot of hardship because the dredger will be in the way, and it could cause confusion.
“The council was getting its permits and it all took time I suppose.”
Mr Sagona said it might also cause inconvenience to boaters who took part in the club’s 10th annual snapper competition, which will be running from 12 to 13 November.
